JonnyF

I'd be stripping this imbecile's titles, right after I'd stripped the simp Harry of his. If they want to slim down the monarchy here is a perfect opportunity. Harry - out. Andrew - out. Markle - overboard. More involvement for Mike and Zara Tindall. Thank goodness we have William and Kate. Without them, the British monarchy would be in real danger. Come on Charles, stop tree hugging and grow a pair.

Hardly surprising that Xi has no fear of Biden. The man can't even tie his own shoelaces. This is the problem with electing someone on the basis that they are not called Trump, you end up with a weak leader who gets no respect around the world. He is an international embarrassment for the once great, US of A. China will do what they want, and Joe won't do anything apart from maybe tell some more of his special "made up" stories.

What is it with the left and fighting Democracy via courts? Reminds me of Gina Miller post Brexit. I guess it's down to their deep seated Communist leanings. History is rarely kind to these people. Trump will be elected and Biden can finally get the care he needs.

Squeaky bum time at the Clintons. Bill, look directly at the camera and repeat "I did not have sexual relations with that ch....".

I made many salient points but Ray decided to scream racist in reply. Tedious. The hateful 8 are gradually turning this into a left wing echo chamber. Many interesting posters with alternate points of view have already left. I am also posting much more on other forums now. If I state the reasons for this, my post will be removed. Which says it all really. It used to be quite a diverse and interesting forum. Now it's essentially a handful of prolific posters screaming racist at everyone they disagree with and liking each others posts.

Honestly Ray, I can't be bothered. You're clearly obsessed with race and racism so it's a bit of a waste of time debating with you at this point. Your attempts to put me on the back foot with nasty slurs and try to force me to defend myself against baseless accusations is frankly, morally reprehensible. I very rarely decline a debate (here or anywhere else) but when people just put their fingers in their ears and scream RACIST over and over again it becomes tedious and frankly, pointless. You have a great day though .

Don't call us, we'll call you.

They have the right to veto certain things, for now... I'd expect the powers to veto to be eroded over time as the article below suggests. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/05/04/nine-eu-countries-join-forces-to-reform-voting-rules-on-foreign-policy-and-dent-veto-power But for now they can veto, as long as they are prepared to accept their punishment, likely to be a smaller slice of the pie at the next round of handouts from the net contributors like Britain was. Zere vill be consequences for Hungary's insubordination.

Doesn't seem like Hungary is going to agree to these membership talks. More trouble for the EU. https://tvpworld.com/74805706/orbn-blocks-ukraines-eu-accession-talks-plus-aid-at-summit

Foreigners get all types of benefits when in the UK. Free accomodation in hotels for example. But don't worry it only costs UK taxpayers 8 million a day. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66855830 Try that in Thailand. You'll be locked up in IDC until you can pay for a flight out.

There are many reasons the NHS is in a mess (a good friend of mine is a senior accountant there so I am aware of a lot of the wastage) but lack of investment by the Tories is not one of them. https://www.myhsn.co.uk/top-tip/how-much-does-the-nhs-cost Perhaps a bigger spend on healthcare and less diversity offers on huge salaries could help. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11999319/Another-450-000-wasted-woke-inclusion-diversity-officer-roles-month-alone.html

Brexit simply gave the goverment the tools to handle immigration. The fact they have messed it up will likely result in them losing power. That's the way it should be. At least we can remove them via the ballot box unlike the faceless technocrats and the unelected commission (unelected by the populace, I am aware of the multi layered facade) running the EU. There is certainly a rise in the right, and not only in the EU. I put it down to massive over-reach by the Woke left, people have simply had enough of being bullied into silence on biological truths and scientific facts. That's just my opinion though... Johnson and Farage. Now that would be something.

That's the exact point that I have been making all along. Good to see you've come across to my way of thinking. Me too, life is so much better when you don't carry around a sense of entitlement.

That's not the point. The point is you do not have the same rights as a Thai national. Not the point. You don't have the same rights should you choose not to buy as a joint venture. Well you have proved that you don't have the same rights as a Thai national so don't be too hard on yourself.

Purely anecdotal on entrance fees. Most foreigners know the truth of the situation beyond your gaslighting. It is an official policy clarified by the government many times. Do Thais have to marry another Thai in order to purchase land and even then only co-own it? No, they don't. They can remain single and own all of it outright in their name. The crumbs they throw to foreigners as workarounds in this regard are nowhere near the rights of Thai nationals in terms of land ownership. Like I said, you are attempting to gaslight with very poor examples to prove you have the same rights as a Thai national when you clearly don't. No comment on the foreigner forced to pay extra for cancer treatment when compared to a Thai national, a decision later upheld by the courts?

Well let's face it, the Dems have been going after Trump for years so they shouldn't be too surprised when something comes back in their direction. But I'd agree, such partisan politics ultimately does the US no favours.

Come on Steven, you're better than that. If you feel the analogy is inaccurate, feel free to point that out. I feel it is an accurate portayal of the power an EU Parliamentarian has when selecting the President of the EU but if you don't then let's discuss it as adults instead of resorting to childish, facetious attempts at humour.

Yes it is extremely difficult even if there was a will in the EU to do it, which there isn't. They like it just the way it is, it suits the Technocrats down to the ground. One of many reasons I am opposed to the federalization of Europe. They could easily inform the public who the candidates were. The current system is a joke. The Parliamentarians that are voted for by the people have very little power. They (or actually the people a layer above them) are essentially given a candidate and they can reject it if they like. Then what? It's like voting for someone (let's call them Mike) to go to a restaurant with colleagues to represent you and Mike is a vegan. Mike is not allowed to speak to the chef as the chef is sat in the VIP section and Mike is in the cheap seats, but Mike's superior can. They bring steak and Mike's superior rejects it. They bring chicken it's rejected. They bring fish it's rejected, then pork etc. Finally they say to Mike's superior well we gave you 4 options and you rejected them all, we can't be fairer than that. So Mike asks for the menu and they reply "Menu? What menu? We already gave your superior what we consider to be the best 4 choices now ask your superior to choose one or go hungry". What a great system. I'm so glad I have Mike to represent me, he's clearly in a position of power. Democracy. EU style.

Just corrected him with multiple examples of foreigners not being treated equally in Thailand. So they are not treated equally then. Just as I said. Yet you focus on the UK and try unsuccessfully to give Thailand and Australia (and most other countries) a free pass. Why do you hate your own country so much? Projection? Something else. I believe that UK citizens who have paid into the system their whole lives should be given preferential treatment to immigrants who just arrived, often illegally. When I see ex-servicemen sleeping on the streets, or hear of OAP's freezing to death because they can't afford to heat their homes and then I see illegal immigrants gloating on social media about their free hotel room, I feel a great sense of injustice. As for your race baiting, it demeans you, you can do better than that Ray.

While some of that is true, try getting into a national park and you get charged 10x or 20x the rate even when you show a work permit or driving licence. I am also paying more income tax than my Thai colleagues (until I get my LTR visa) and I am unable to buy land. Private hospitals charge more for foreigners and the Thai courts back up that decision as shown in the link below. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/court-rules-for-health-ministry-calls-dual-pricing-beneficial To pretend that I have the same rights as a Thai national in Thailand is laughable.

Yes, that is next on the agenda, along with removing ourselves from the ECHR. I understand how it works thanks. Designed so that there are several layers between the voters and the PEC. About as far from direct democracy as one could imagine. We never voted for anyone with any real power, we only voted for the member of European Parliament (who themselves have very limited powers by design). Thank god it's not our problem any more thanks to a real demonstration of direct Democracy known as the Brexit referendum. Voters don't vote for the PEC. They vote for people who are able to reject someone else's nomination. Once again, limited powers and several layers between the man on the street and the people making the real decisions. Just how they like it. Thank goodness we left, I can only hope we put more distance between ourselves and that failing federalist technocracy.

Unlikely. Here is one 2-3 years old for 45,900 though...

Agree. Buy new for 50k or buy an old beater for 12k and be prepared to spend 5k on it. I'd advise the new option although as long as the beater runs and sounds OK there is unlikely to be anything majorly wrong with it that a couple of thousand Baht won't fix. Buying one 2-3 years old for 40k doesn't make any sense. Not worth the saving.

So let's not try to excuse it as a "global problem" that the PM cannot do anything about.

They could make a huge difference locally by enforcing laws pertaining to crop burning and vehicle emissions.