UKIP Second In Rotherham By-Election

[ChillDoubt]

More alarmingly, BNP were third.

Is the UKIP place a result of a knee jerk reaction to the recent foster parents case there or a broader wake up call for Dodgy Dave and his poodle?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20535008

[emmie]

Bazile, have you contributed to the economy and are happy with the status quo, glad that more and more people are flooding here, with no means of support, because i am not. Once borders were opened to all unsundry then what of the people who have served this country well, paid their taxes, and now see people who have paid diddly squat get help, not a fair system by any means. And after a lifetime of living, working here, i am not about to leave, money being the main stumbling block
My o/h would hate the Britain we have become, and he loved this country so very much.

[emmie]

couldn't give a damn about the British Empire, that was finished long ago, however i do care about the country that has been my home for a lot longer than i care to remember.

[sp1814]

em10

I think I must be one of the lucky ones. I grew up surrounded by families of all hues and backgrounds, and we pretty much got on like a house on fire.

I didn't ever come across the hoardes of benefit-scrounging immigrants that you've witnessed (to be honest, I only ever encounter that demographic in the papers).

I suppose if you've never witnessed it first hand, it's hard to empathise with someone who has...

[Bazile]

em10 - i have been contributing to the economy , since my late teens and ever since .

I'm not happy about certain policies of the current administration ( just like you beleive you wont be if Labour took over the reins , as intimated in your post ) .

Whichever of the main parties that are in power , wont cause me to to feel that this is no longer a good country , in which to live - unlike what you appear to consider .

Which country do you consider is better to reside ?

[emmie]

sp I have no idea, and not going to ask how old you are, but i grew up in a mostly white neighbourhood, that didn't stop me however from having friends and boyfriends of different hues, so it's not about colour, it's about rights. If people vote for UKIP it's their choice, and if you look at their website, it's got pictures of people also of different hues, standing with their leader.

[Gromit]

You're waging your time basile. Em10 or AOG will never give you an answer to that straight forward question.

[emmie]

i have also contributed, throughout my long working life, however that doesn't make it right what we have now. I believer that many countries are having a bad time of it right now, or at least many of those in the EU, wayward spending in the past has done for many, not unlike here. We have the fallout, major austerity cuts, which will hit people like me.

[emmie]

what straightforward question, where would it be good to live right now, anywhere that doesn't have so many bludging off the state.

[Bazile]

em10 - are you going to answer my question ?

[Gromit]

Wasting your time, even.

[Bazile]

//what straightforward question, where would it be good to live right now, anywhere that doesn't have so many bludging off the state. //

Exactly where is that ?

[emmie]

New Zealand looks promising Australia maybe, who knows, far enough away from here.

[jake-the-peg]

Look around the world

Who are the important players?

The US, Russia, China soon to be Brazil and India

These are big countries their size gives them clout, you may think Britain is important because you live here but on a world wide basis we really aren't.

Who do you think Obama is most worried about upsetting? Us or the Chinese?

However as the EU we have the world's largest GDP, the third largest population

We're important

When George W Bush imposed illegal steel sanctions it was the EU that stood up to him and made him back down

How much luck do you think a British PM would have had?

This next century will be run by the big boys - Yes Britain does well for it's size but there are no prizes for that.

What's really sad is that we're big in Europe - really big and we could be really important. Between us Britain and Germany could really run the shop

France must be really laughing - while we spend our time sulking they still have lots of influence.

If we pull out we will resign ourselves to being the 21st Century's New Zealand and that would be really sad

[emmie]

France isn't doing too well either.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197667/France-unemployment-rates-Number-jobless-reaches-3m-time-1999.html

[jno]

New Zealanders cope... even if it means they have to dress up as hobbits from time to time. Small countries get by; but they're seldom influential.

[emmie]

and so say other sources before someone mentions the DM

http://www.france24.com/en/20120927-france-unemployment-tops-surpasses-3-three-million-economy-hollande-jobless

[Gromit]

A mythical place that does not exist?

Probably twinned with Cloudcuckooland.

[emmie]

the one you live in you mean

[jno]

nobody's saying France is doing well. They're saying it should be easy to take over a leading place in the EU from them - but that we don't want to.

[ichkeria]

I can't think of a better recommendation for the EU than that the Russian government hates it.