A Breath Of Fresh Air - For The Moment.

[Atheist]

I just watched Starmer being interviewed on the telly, and he was asked straight questions and gave straight answers - no huffing and puffing and trotting out insults and cliches. I hope it continues like that.

 

 

[New Judge]

He must be unwell. Nothing trivial, I hope.

[nicebloke1]

We've got what this country has needed for a very long time. A working PM at last, and pressing all the right buttons, and taking the correct action.

[Atheist]

NJ: He is PM now. It makes a difference.

[Deskdiary]

"...and pressing all the right buttons, and taking the correct action."

 

Obviously that's subjective, because from where I'm sitting he's been pressing all the wrong buttons and taking incorrect action.

 

Still, never the twain I suppose.

[nicebloke1]

Medication is never very nice or welcome but if it corrects the illness, and this country has been very ill for some time. The problem being, the medication is going to be expensive but the cost shared will help reduce the pain also.

[vulcan42]

He doesn't keep his promises, if he cannot do that then every word he speaks is false.

[douglas9401]

"Medication is never very nice or welcome..."

Parents present...Calpol!

[nicebloke1]

@23.31. You mean like Sunaks many pledges, Boris's lies, and Trusses crazy 48 day performance. 

[gulliver1]

23.17...I agree with Nicebloke on this one "If it isn't hurting it isn't working" Can't think who said that ?

[douglas9401]

That was Edwina's bit on the side I'm sure.

[chelle7272]

//He doesn't keep his promises//

He's a politician. none of them do!

[youngmafbog]

//I agree with Nicebloke on this one//

Well blow me down with a feather.

[youngmafbog]

Donyt worry Atheist its all lies, he is a politician and his lips are moving.

[Old_Geezer]

Haven't watched him, but my impression is that he and his cabinet are making wrong decisions left, right, & centre. And also making no progress on issues plaguing the public and high on the public's priority list. Mainly involving anything to do with the continuing invasion of the UK.

[nicebloke1]

OG. The invasion has been a long running problem not just for the UK but for many other countries, and its a problem thats not going to be solved over night. The bigger issues than the boat crooks are Russia and China trust me.

[vulcan42]

" @23.31. You mean like Sunaks many pledges, Boris's lies, and Trusses crazy 48 day performance. 

Starmer said it would be different under his command. Would you say that lying to people who served their country and are dying because of it, is acceptable from the leader of this country?

[Old_Geezer]

It could be solved more or less overnight. Other nations are making progress. The first thing to do is extract oneself from supporting legal definitions that have proved inadequate. Or alternatively ignore them. Ship all illegals back to where they came from. Round up those who are already here and put them somewhere secure while they wait their return. Agree with foreign nations to take illegals either permanently (oh some idiot government trashed such a scheme didn't they) or until their case has been officially processed and rejected. None of this is occurring, in fact it has gone backwards under this new government, who, like the last lot, have zero interest in sorting it and zero interest in what the prevailing public opinion is.

[nicebloke1]

OG, other nations are making progress? maybe, but you and I don't know yet what progress / work is going on in number 10 do we. Like I said its a difficult problem, if it was easy the cons had more than enough time to solve it. Keir so far has had very little time.

[Old_Geezer]

Fair enough, but then why go backwards publicly, and claim that trying to sort out international criminal gangs in nations he has no jurisdiction in is the way forward ? Exactly what hidden talks is this nonsense likely to be concealing ? The issue is border control. No one seems interested in that. On the contrary we hear of handovers and escorts to aid breaking the law instead.

[New Judge]

"Like I said its a difficult problem,..."

It [the question of small boats] isn't a difficult problem. It's only made difficult by the knots successive governments have tied themselves in by complying with international agreements that were devised seventy years ago and which are hopelessly inappropriate now.

Those agreements need to be ditched forthwith and measures taken to simply prevent illegal arrivals. No nation outside Europe would tolerate, let alone assist, people arriving illegally by sea in vast numbers.

But it's not going to happen under this or any other government so the people of this country are stuck with it. All this rhetoric about "smashing the gangs" is simply wind and puff. The UK PM has no jurisdiction elsewhere in Europe and even if he had, or the other nations were prepared to act against them, they would be peeing in the wind. The business is far too lucrative to be disrupted by pesky governments getting in the way. In any case, the authorities cannot be trying too hard to disrupt the smugglers. The BBC discovered, without too much effort, the origin of a lot of the equipment used to facilitate the crossings:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6q6wz765eo

The only way to end the operation is to simply show that it will not work. This means preventing the arrival of illegal migrants and removing immediately any that do happen to make it through. That is the only strategy that will put a stop to it. 

But back to original point:

"..and pressing all the right buttons,"

The PM has not actually pressed any buttons thusfar (apart from ending the Rwanda scheme and capitulating unconditionally to to a few trade union demands). All he's done is said what buttons he's going to press.

Obviously whether you believe they are the right ones or not is a matter of opinion. But I don't think planning a budget that will stifle growth, increase taxes, almost certainly stoke inflation and see continued (what  some people laughingly term) "high" interest rates is a particularly wise button to press. But that's what's going to happen next week.