RayC

The Spiked 'Free speech unless we don't agree with it' school of thought raises it's head again.

Only 579 Russians in Bangkok? When did the rest of them leave?

I agree that UK elections could be more democratic, however the election for a Head of State couldn't follow the 'first past the post' system. At least other three possibilities for deciding a winner spring to mind: 1) 'Winner takes all' i.e. person with the highest number of votes wins 2) Runoff if no candidate gets >50% e.g. similar to French Presidential elections 3) Single Transferable Vote. Whatever system is chosen, by definition it will be more democratic than the system based on inheritance which we currently have.

In any other era Sunak would correctly be regarded as being on the right-wing of the Tory party. That he is portrayed as a liberal Conservative shows how far to the right the Tory party has lurched. Given the absolute mess that Labour will inherit if elected - and the time it will take to try to turn things around - it wouldn't be a great surprise if things got worse before they get better. Unfortunately, the whole of Europe seems to be moving right at the moment. Hopefully, in five years time - if not before - it will become clear how divisive and destructive these right-wing policies are, and we can revert to a more beneficial state of affairs i.e. policies based around a mixed economy and socially liberal values.

Such as? She liquidated her interest in one company which was a beneficiary of government policy. Another child-care organisation where she had an interest received a government grant of £350k, which isn't even loose change to her. She was effectively forced to give up her non-dom status. If anything, Rishi being PM has cost the Sunak household money. Reform will be overjoyed if that's the case. If Sunak thinks that a FTA with India will make a blind bit of difference to the outcome of the election, then he has even less political nous than I thought. Any FTA with India is bound to include concessions re Indian mitigation to the UK. That won't sit well either with the flat earthers in the Tory party or the wider Tory supporting electorate. True of some, not of others.

Sunak and his wife are worth a combined £500+m. Whatever his reasons for wanting to be PM, I very much doubt that boosting their wealth was the main motivating factor.

Why rubbish? Assuming that the UK constitution doesn't change and that he doesn't predecease his father, William will be the next unelected UK Head of State so issues surrounding him are of public interest. I hope that his wife recovers from her health problems but if there are aspects of his life - such as his obvious concern for her well-being - which might restrict his ability to perform his future role effectively then the public should be aware of the fact. The public also has every right to know how he is likely to approach his future role. If William is unable and/or unwilling to meet those conditions then he should step aside. We could then install a Head of State who is democratically elected by the UK electorate.

Sunak may well be a very clever person with an impressive work ethic, however, imo what his tenure as PM has shown is that he lacks three crucial attributes necessary to succeed in the role: 1) charisma - he has none 2) public performance - he is uneasy being in the spotlight and 3) political nous - very lacking in this regard.

Not sure that this adds anything to Sheryl's excellent advice? Anyway for what it's worth. My wife attended the walk-in evening clinic at the Institute last Tuesday re a lesion. She waited for about an hour to be examined and was given an appointment for removal of the lesion (last) Thursday (2 days later; no biopsy necessary in her case). Good luck.

If the 2022 World Cup is anything to go by, there will be plenty of St. George's (and St. Andrew's) flags flying this summer during the Euros

Depends where you flew it from. You need permission to erect a flagpole in the UK but, other than that, you can display the Union Jack or flag of St. George to your heart's content.

Given that the first recorded gender reassignment surgery didn't take place until 1931, it's hardly surprising that there aren't many books dating from the 1930s and earlier about transgender issues.

Spot on. Why this story is considered newsworthy is beyond me.

If only all countries would follow the EU in this matter https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

I would say that inferring that there are six million East Europeans living in the UK is a vast exaggeration. Estimates put the number of nationals from all EU states at around 3.5 million so, to hazard a guess, the number of East Europeans currently in the UK is probably no more than 2 million or so. If there is a shortage of social housing stock and if net migration is positive, then it will almost certainly excabarate any problems. However, the overwhelming majority of the Eastern Europeans who came to the UK did so to fill job vacancies and satisfy demand for services that couldn't be filled locally. If they had not done so, then the UK's economic growth would have shrunk. Eastern Europeans - or any other immigrants for that matter - don't decide UK government economic and/or housing policy. Consequently, they can't be blamed for the failure of successive UK governments to increase the amount of affordable housing available in the UK.

No it doesn't. The 'White Other' category includes Australasians, North Americans, South Americans, white Africans, white Asians as well as (other) white Europeans. Moreover, these figures are about occupancy. Many occupants will have been in their homes for years. I'd suggest that the number of social housing homes in the UK occupied by East Europeans is small. In any event, the main reason for the shortage in social housing is that the stock of such housing is being reduced as such homes are sold or demolished and the number of social housing being built is insufficient to compensate for the loss.

You're welcome but I'm afraid that you are still incorrect. 11% of UK social housing was rented by 'White Other' (not British or Irish) which is hardly "quite a lot". (Note: I think that it's reasonable to assume that almost all East European migrants are white).

The connection is tenuous to say the least. The availability of social housing has been on a downward trend for decades. To suggest that, pre-Brexit, "all available council housing was going to Eastern European immigrants" is ridiculous and factually incorrect; over 90% of those in social housing are British or Irish. If people voted for Brexit in the belief that the availability of social housing would increase, they were misguided and/or sold yet another pup.

Ukraine may be corrupt but it is fighting for its' survival. The expectation should be that the money will be used to further that cause.

Never let it be said that you miss an opportunity to portray Putin and Russia as the victim. The EU (and its' member states) didn't much care for Trump or Johnson, and their respective attitudes towards the rest of Europe. However, the EU did not deem it necessary to freeze US and UK assets in the EU. Why? Well no end of justifiable reasons, one being that neither the US nor the UK had illegally invaded a neighbouring European sovereign state and threatened the stability of the region as a whole. In the unlikely event that the Kremlin is concerned about what is published on AN, I think they should give you a medal in recognition of your efforts re the promotion of pro-Putin and pro-Russian propaganda.

I'm not sure that there would be an outcry in the UK if ex-pat pensions were unfrozen, but equally there is no groundswell of public support for doing so and imo that is one reason why it is effectively a non-issue electionally. Secondly, for all the talk of there being 450,000 disgruntled ex-pat votes up for grabs for the party which promises to unfreeze pensions, this number is relatively insignificant as it equates to +/-700 votes per constituency. I realise that the potential ex-pat voters may not be spread completely equally across the UK but, unless they are concentrated in the most marginal seats, it's of little import.

It's possible that Corbyn will be re-elected. If so, I don't doubt that he will try to embarrass Starmer. However, imo the unfreezing of ex-pat pensions will be way down the list of issues about which he tries to attack Starmer.

If Corbyn gets re-elected I doubt that he will be very vocal in Parliament - or anywhere else for that matter - about the unfreezing of ex-pat pensions.

As if often I would agree that the Guardian's headline is sensationalist on the negative side. However, after reading the CPS account, one might be forgiven for thinking that the initiatives are progressing well. As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in-between as a reading of the summary report shows.

Very eloquently put. I can fully understand your discomfort with the Tories' lurch to the right. However, I am curious why you say that, as a natural 'centralist' Tory, you now think that you have no political home. Wouldn't the Lib Dems be an option or even Labour under Starmer? Both are very much centralist.