Riots in the UK

[happy daze john in oz]

Spent ten days in London and what we saw gives good reason for the people of Uk to be concerned for the future.

London is still a safe city despite the recent stabbing there, for the mayor to say it is no longer safe to walk is a rather odd statement.

But if London is a specimen of other parts of Uk then there are problems ahead. So many outer suburbs now look more like some third world cities.
Taken over by females all in black with just the eyes showing. At times walking down Oxford Street one is confronted by a black wall coming towards you.
Men in what look more like old fashioned night wear.

Saw one lady begging, but I also saw her arrive at her regular begging spot with a man who I think was her husband.
He put her mat down for her, gave her a packet with food in and then put her begging bowl down for her.
This is now becoming a common practice in London.

Park Lane opposite the Hilton hotel is a small grassed area, located there about 20 small tents where the 'homeless' choose to live, all with the mobile of course and I was informed receiving the dole. Welcome to the new London.

Still popular with the tourists most of whom at some stage will be ripped off, prices are rising faster than any inflation.

So there may be good reason why there have been riots by persons who rightly say their country is being taken from them, ride the busses and look for a traditional white Englishman if you can. Listen to the voices, no English spoken here.

They may well be second or third generation born there, but they continue with the language and culture of their forefathers.

I read an article about a small town in the south with a population of about 3,000, it has a main line railway access.
It is in a green belt area, the gov is making plans to amend the green belt regulations so a new city of 300,000 can be built there.
No doubt a sign of the times,

But despite all of that we had a great time there, met family and friends and had a good old fashioned English pub just around the corner from our hotel.

[j.sabourn]

#68 . A lot of the unrest at present could be due to inflationary prices of food and other items Tony. Here in Australia I sit and watch tv like millions of others. I counted 14 adverts every 10 minutes between showing of normal tv of a popular show. So even watching tv you are paying the supplier of your needs the cost of these adverts put onto the price of whatever product you are buying , he on the other hand will also be getting relief of tax on his outlay as well as the bigger price he charges.If his/ her product was any good there would be no need to advertise , the average housewife knows what she needs and medical products the best one to advise is your GP. So one way of dropping inflammatory prices would be by reducing advertising and trying to brainwash people. This would have a secondary advantage of being able to watch tv in peace at last and not having to watch a lot of people trying to get rich through your pocket. Already the government here are going so they say to stop gambling advertising on tv, they want to do a proper job and restrict it in other subjects as well , maybe also make sure that prices charged are fair to the consumer. Ivan and myself might survive ok living out of the rag bag , but others who have never had to rough it may not. Cheers JS

[Tony Taylor]

#68 . A lot of the unrest at present could be due to inflationary prices of food and other items Tony. Here in Australia I sit and watch tv like millions of others. I counted 14 adverts every 10 minutes between showing of normal tv of a popular show. So even watching tv you are paying the supplier of your needs the cost of these adverts put onto the price of whatever product you are buying , he on the other hand will also be getting relief of tax on his outlay as well as the bigger price he charges.If his/ her product was any good there would be no need to advertise , the average housewife knows what she needs and medical products the best one to advise is your GP. So one way of dropping inflammatory prices would be by reducing advertising and trying to brainwash people. This would have a secondary advantage of being able to watch tv in peace at last and not having to watch a lot of people trying to get rich through your pocket. Already the government here are going so they say to stop gambling advertising on tv, they want to do a proper job and restrict it in other subjects as well , maybe also make sure that prices charged are fair to the consumer. Ivan and myself might survive ok living out of the rag bag , but others who have never had to rough it may not. Cheers JS

John, TV here is the same; popular programs may only run for 5 minutes before the first advert break appears so the TV companies can make more money.
Daytime TV is purely targeted at the elderly with loads of funeral plans, life insurance, direct cremation plans; interspersed with gambling (bingo mainly) ads. dressed up as fun social clubs where they have beach parties etc. so its not actually gambling its a social event where you meet with friends - as if. You need to be feeble minded if you swallow all that crap.

[j.sabourn]

The feeble government here are making out that they are going to stop gambling adverts horse racing and such as it causes disharmony in the home during tight times , however no mention of the government Lotto which rakes in millions. We’ll see the proof in the pudding when he gets round to it , but won’t hold my breath. This is when democracy shows poorer ratings than despot led countries who have nothing to loose as never had to start with. So just carry on as per normal. Either that or make for London where the streets are made of gold. Cheers JS

[Gerard Fisher]

#26 Paul,

There's so much going on in your post but I surmise that what you are unhappy about is the level of immigration in the UK. One particular trope I wish to pick up on is: "At least the EU passport is no more a free entry ticket."

What is so peculiar about that familiar comment is that it is often heard from people who have no direct experience of the impact of EU migration. Just before our general election last July someone in Bury was being interviewed on the news. Asked what his voting intention was he said he didn't know but that he was happy that Brexit had finally got done and that there were no more migrants coming in from the EU.

In the EU referendum of 2016 the part of the country with the largest proportion of Remainers was London. London is also the part of the country with the largest ratio of EU migrants, most of who weren't eligible to vote in the referendum.

This raises the question: Why would someone in Bury, with low immigration numbers, vote Leave when the people of London, with the largest number of EU migrants, voted Remain? As your southern neighbours in the US would say, "Go figure".

[Gerard Fisher]

#63 Ivan

25p per week only? Lucky you.

My MN pension, which is paid from an annuity, is £600 per month. From that I get £341 per month and the government gets the other £259. Nice of them to help themselves like that. All that rubbish about the government making a monthly contribution to encourage you to save for your pension. Little did I know that their contributions weren't free, just deferred tax which they would collect once I became a pensioner.

[Gerard Fisher]

#66 Tony,

A few years ago I rang my GP surgery for an appointment and got put into a queue which was going nowhere. Out of frustration I went up to the surgery. The reception desk was unmanned even though it was past 8 a.m. So, out of curiosity, I rang the number again whilst at the desk. To my surprise I was put in a queue. After about 10 minutes I advanced one place in the invisible queue. I put that down to someone ahead of me on the phone queue giving up the ghost; or maybe even losing the will to live.

[j.sabourn]

#76 I get a similar remuneration as per Mnopf Gerard and am penalised by the Oz government in my Oz entitlements . As regards the NHI pension has remained the same at about 70 quid a week since 2002. The present government here are now going to inflict heavy penalties on the nursing home occupants by charging larger fees on their occupants if they have money. The old saying saving for a rainy day has no relevance anymore , best to spend it all before you retire. Cheers JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Gerard
Living in a small town in Aus sometimes has advantages, especially if it is the center of a large area, probably the size of South Wales. We just ring up the surgery get an appointment and that is that, if we want a blood test we just go to the testing center wait in a small Que and get done, we are not charged for the DR or blood test, we can go down to the hospital and if you are prepared to wait maybe n hour get seen by a dr. again no charge.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Pension problems are nothing new.
We receive the state pension at 95% of current rat for a couple.
WE get a small sum from UK pension.
The amount we receive each month has a bearing on the rate of state pension by a few dollars.
We have our super.
Each year we are told by our super company that we have no tax to pay on any monies we receive!!

But as to inflation, last year in a pub just around the corner from our hotel, a small old fashioned English one with large numbers of locals using.
Few tourist but not enough to make a big difference.
Last year a pint and a medium Chardonay was GBP 10.40.
This year same drink GBP 11.60

Food prices in restaurant we found had not changed that much since last year.
Was in a supermarket and saw a basic loaf of bread at GBP 3.40 and though cheap. Until I converted that to Oz prices and realised how much mor you are paying for essentials.

UK petrol about twice Oz price, and from what family told us the price of power is extortionist.
Council rates are about three times ours here in Oz.
Yet for all that the BOE says your inflation is only at about 2%. But we did see a pig flying past just then.

Overcrowding in UK is contributing to civil unrest added to the number of illegals coming in and you are beginning to see the pot coming to the boil.
Just hope it does not end in civil violence though E. Musk wrote an article for a London paper saying UK is headed for a civil war!!!!!!