Rolling Brexit Links/UK politics in the neo-Weimar era

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-news-andrea-leadsom-young-britons-fruit-picking-eu-migrants-a7342196.html

"My absolute hope is that with more apprenticeships, with more young people being encouraged to engage with countryside matters, that actually the concept of a career in food production is going to be much more appealing going forward."

lol!

"why wages aren't higher and so on"

https://twitter.com/jessicaelgot/status/783047118235787265

Momentum decision on Jackie Walker. this seems kind of like a fudge that will satisfy precisely no-one? (sacked as vice-chair of steering committee, but remains on the committee and a member of Momentum, Momentum say that none of her individual statements were anti-semitic in and of themselves, but that Walker has shown poor judgment and should have "done more to explain herself to mitigate the upset caused", and call for Labour party not to expel her)

no explanation necessary, she made herself perfectly clear.

Kristall cleat

Clear obv

Momentum complaining about footage of the meeting where Walker made these comments being leaked to the press also seems particularly ill-judged

Doesnt countryside matters mean fucking? It did in hamlet.

What is going to be the main selling point for these 3 day long crop cutting "apprenticeships"?

Smuggle the fucking cabbages under your jacket, then you won't need the foodbank:p

damn son https://twitter.com/Peston/status/783034000801685601

https://s18.postimg.org/lixd4oqgp/Sterling.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCe6e23yIT8

Tomorrow belongs to Amber Rudd.

The fund will build on work we have done to support local authorities …to stop giving housing benefit to people that have no right to be in the country … to reduce rough sleeping by illegal immigrants … and to crack down on the rogue landlords who house illegal migrants in the most appalling conditions.

And for those that are here legally, we will provide more English language support. And with it, the obvious benefits of being able to join the way of life in the country they have chosen to call home.

Ms Rudd said she would consider for the first time whether student immigration rules should be tailored to the quality of the course and the educational institution.

This idea was mooted a year ago by Nick Timothy, the prime minister’s chief of staff, who said there were only 70,000 foreign students at Russell Group universities compared to 113,000 at less prestigious universities.

This seems the direction they're heading in. Their own figures shows that 38% of students are going to 20% of the universities (those in the RG) so international students are far more likely to be on high-achieving courses than the average Brit.

There are plenty of very good universities (in their own right and particularly in comparison to the international average) outside the Russell Group. Idk what message it's supposed to send to British kids at Loughborough (7th in the UK), Surrey (11th) or Bath (joint 11th), let alone the rest, about the value of their own degrees.

One recurring criticism levelled by home office ministers is that some foreign students, even those studying English language degrees, are not proficient English speakers.

The level requirements were set by the Home Office, not universities. The choice of test below-degree-level was set by the Home Office, not universities. If the Home Office believes the test they recommend universities use is problematic (and there are arguments that it is) maybe they shouldn't have given them a monopoly on immigration assessment as well.

The level requirements were set by the Home Office, not universities. The choice of test below-degree-level was set by the Home Office, not universities. If the Home Office believes the test they recommend universities use is problematic (and there are arguments that it is) maybe they shouldn't have given them a monopoly on immigration assessment as well.

otm

Reading twitter and you'd think the sky is going to fall. That we'll bar students, kick out foreign doctors and nurses, jail landlords (probably good except its for housing illegal immigrants) but idk a lot of this is to get through conference. Can't see so many doctors being trained in time, and implementing these things will be difficult.

As will closing the borders to immigrants. They get through.

Don't get me wrong its awful but there is a long way to go and many of the ppl involved are incompetent.

ukip

Diane James ‏@DianeJamesMEP 10h10 hours ago
The borderless European Union encourages the free movement of criminals.

RIP bigot woman

ukip

Truer words have not been spoken! :)

Reading twitter and you'd think the sky is going to fall. That we'll bar students, kick out foreign doctors and nurses, jail landlords (probably good except its for housing illegal immigrants) but idk a lot of this is to get through conference. Can't see so many doctors being trained in time, and implementing these things will be difficult.

As will closing the borders to immigrants. They get through.

Nobody believes this will actually happen. The terrifying thing is that a mainstream political party can actually stand up and say all this shit with a straight face, let alone government ministers. This is miles away from what used to pass for centre ground in the U.K., and it's the opposite of the multicultural manifesto that got them elected.

Having the unelected PM turn out to be leading a literally fascist government is cause for concern, even if it's an incompetent one that can't do what it says it will.

Fuck a "we don't elect PMs" btw. Even though that's true, we do elect on manifestos and this is burning theirs.

Still, shoes.

More Rudd

"But a student immigration system that treats every student and university as equal only punishes those we should want to help."

As opposed to those we shouldn't want to help.

any working class person who votes Tory is a fucking idiot who deserves whatever they get tbh

Not to keep banging on about this but the routes into a student visa are so restrictive these days it's virtually impossible to come to the UK unless you are going to somewhere approved and continually vetted by the Home Office. The idea that Tier Four Sponsor status can be withdrawn, meaning a ban on international students, is held over literally every university to make them jump through the compliance hoops the Home Office sets out - all seen as ludicrous as it is and all implemented by T. May. Go back six years and you did have a lot of people coming to study on questionable college courses and working to support their study. Now people are coming to universities, not allowed to work to support their studies and are kicked out when they graduate. That combination has led to the number of people from Nepal, for example, dropping from around 9000 to 192 (poorer students need to work side jobs, so they go to Aus) but the overall number is sustained by the growing Chinese middle class and the fact that 'unfashionable' universities like Hull still offer a really good quality of education compared to the US, and arguably Aus, average.

They are literally telling decent students going to UK state universities and paying huge amounts of money for the privilege that they are not welcome. The effect won't just be on students, who can go to Ireland, Canada, NZ or any of the emerging TNE hubs like UAE and Malaysia, it will be on the sustained viability of half the universities in this country. Stop them taking international students and you risk them closing. You also risk one of the key sources of income and regeneration in 'the regions'. Students have transformed the economies of towns and cities all across the country - putting billions into housing, entertainment, retail, etc. This is just so unfathomably stupid.

https://s22.postimg.org/dua5xtjxd/maxresdefault_1.jpg

Private housing developers should build homes with smaller rooms that do not meet existing minimum space standards so that young people can afford to buy them, the housing minister has said.

Gavin Barwell told the Conservative conference in Birmingham that he wanted the private sector to “innovate” to solve the housing crisis and that relaxing the rules on how cramped a flat can be might stop young people from being priced out.

Tory housing minister says building more council homes will increase inequality

https://s22.postimg.org/4vj9t510h/d80db928df1a759cc390e92f6fd59052.jpg

Reading twitter and you'd think the sky is going to fall. That we'll bar students, kick out foreign doctors and nurses, jail landlords (probably good except its for housing illegal immigrants) but idk a lot of this is to get through conference. Can't see so many doctors being trained in time, and implementing these things will be difficult.

As will closing the borders to immigrants. They get through.

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, October 4, 2016 9:47 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I just watched Adam Ruins Everything #18 which talks about the US/Mexico border having a clampdown actually meaning that there were more undocumented transient workers staying in the States than in a more lax time. This because when the border wasn't being heavily enforced workers would come in from Mexico do the work, get paid, take the money home to family in Mexico. When the crossing is more heavily clamped down it is harder to cross so less people are heading back in the opposite direction and remaining longer in the country that has the immigration fear. I would assume that a situation like that was a constant when the directive about policing a border changes. That there are a number of factors that seem counterintuitive if one doesn't know how things work on the ground and so on.

"Tory housing minister says building more council homes will increase inequality"

that conclusion takes some real warped tory logic, but saying that much of Labour aren't any better - including Sadiq "The Power" Khan.

Nobody believes this will actually happen. The terrifying thing is that a mainstream political party can actually stand up and say all this shit with a straight face, let alone government ministers.

part of it though is that this kind of discourse becoming mainstream gradually changes the territory of what can happen. a whole lot of shit that not long ago nobody believed would actually happen has since happened...

Why hasn't Lanbour signed up to this as I presume they were asked.

SNP, Plaid and the Green Party join forces to resist Tories' ‘toxic politics’
Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, the co-leaders of the Green Party - and their counterparts in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales - have joined forces with Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland and Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru to call for progressive parties to work together to resist the ‘Tories' toxic politics’.

The leaders have released a statement ahead of Theresa May’s first major conference speech as Conservative Party leader.

In the statement - signed by Sturgeon, Leanne Wood of Plaid Cyrmu, Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas from the Green Party of England and Wales and the leaders of the Green Parties of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales - the politicians attack the Conservatives for the ‘the most toxic rhetoric on immigration seen from any government in living memory.’

The statement goes on to say:

“This is not a time for parties to play games, or meekly respect the tired convention whereby they do not break cover during each other's conferences. It is an occasion for us to restate the importance of working together to resist the Tories' toxic politics, and make the case for a better future for our people and communities.”

The statement was drawn up this morning between the parties as a response to increasingly hostile rhetoric from the Conservative Party Conference.

Caroline Lucas, who has long urged progressive parties to work together more, said:

“Now more than ever it is vital that we present a real opposition to the Conservatives. This conference has seen them attempt to inflame tensions in our communities and set out a vision for a ‘hard brexit’ that will do untold damage to the places we represent. By uniting we have the best chance of facing them down and protecting the people who elected us.”

ENDS

Full statement, signed by:

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Leanne Wood, Leader of Plaid Cymru

Steven Agnew, Leader of the Green Party of Northern Ireland

Patrick Harvie, Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party

Alice Hooker-Stroud, Leader of the Wales Green Party

The countries of the United Kingdom face a spiralling political and economic crisis. At the top of the Conservative Party, the narrow vote in favour of leaving the EU has now been interpreted as the pretext for a drastic cutting of ties with Europe, which would have dire economic results - and as an excuse for the most toxic rhetoric on immigration we have seen from any government in living memory.

This is a profoundly moral question which gets to the heart of what sort of country we think we live in. We will not tolerate the contribution of people from overseas to our NHS being called into question, or a new version of the divisive rhetoric of 'British jobs for British workers'. Neither will we allow the people of these islands, no matter how they voted on June 23rd, to be presented as a reactionary, xenophobic mass whose only concern is somehow taking the UK back to a lost imperial age. At a time of increasing violence and tension, we will call out the actions of politicians who threaten to enflame those same things.

This is not a time for parties to play games, or meekly respect the tired convention whereby they do not break cover during each other's conferences. It is an occasion for us to restate the importance of working together to resist the Tories' toxic politics, and make the case for a better future for our people and communities. We will do this by continuing to work and campaign with the fierce sense of urgency this political moment demands.

ENDS

or indeed Labour. (I'm using my dads laptop while mine is away getting fixed and I'm not used to it so typos galore)

Why hasn't Labour signed up to this as I presume they were asked.

incompetence?

Update: Jeremy Corbyn has been spotted buying upcycled knitwear in Bardon’s Mill, a village in Northumberland. He is on a trip walking a section of Hadrian’s wall with his wife, Laura.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesball/8-tory-conference-policies-which-jeremy-corbyn-has-not-respo

"Never again let left wing activist human rights lawyers harass the bravest of the brave, the men and women of our armed forces" says the PM

Maybe they could...stop committing war crimes?

He is on a trip walking a section of Hadrian’s wall with his wife, Laura.

Yeah, it's Tory conference week, nothing really for the opposition to do, why not take a week off, eh?

he's just patrolling the border like a good citizen

if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere

this nugget needs to be in this thread. the idea of exclusion runs right to the core of May's worldview. find it amazing that the embrace of the idea of a disconnected, internationalist elite has now led to beefing with epictetus. not sure what she'd say to his insistence that political communities depend on the wider world & thus our obligations to them are secondary to our obligations to nature. but I don't really understand localism.

Already quoted approvingly by Marine le Pen.

It's basically a fascist sentiment so sure

it's basically a fascist sentiment so sure: the 2016 story

she's totally talking about me. born in one country, moved to another, now living temporarily in another. it's been an amazing experience. i've learned a lot in each place. london is full of people like me, moving, settling for awhile, sending money back home, making plans. on behalf of all of us let me say as diplomatically as i can, fuck you theresa may!

This very much ^^^.

Now available at Russell & Bromley: Fuck-You Pumps.

That there is the history of the world and why nationalism is moronic

it's all getting pretty scary. i'm on holiday this week and it feels strange to be watching this from afar, then writing/swimming/reading/getting completely smashed and making a point of not watching it.

the tories are scarily good at keeping power. i'm in spain and i was in this exact apartment when they got in for the first time of this era. never, ever could i have dreamt how bad it would be, in my innocence.

her pallid and alienating vision of a pre-war Britain will be another booster for the ISIS recruitment division, she almost makes me feel like joining them.

it feels like she's weighed things up over the last few weeks and finally decided on the blend she believes will keep her in power. there is nothing to do with the good of the country in what they're doing. the only glimmer of hope i see is in the irrationality of it all.

He is on a trip walking a section of Hadrian’s wall with his wife, Laura.

Yeah, it's Tory conference week, nothing really for the opposition to do, why not take a week off, eh?

― Robby Mook (stevie), Wednesday, 5 October 2016 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well there is nothing for the opposition to do besides putting out statements (which Corbyn did as soon as May finished her speech), the odd tweet. Counteracting the noise with some other noise.

I think this is as worrying: https://twitter.com/labourpress/status/783266273266429952

Really need to get rid of McNicol and get hold of the machinery. Otherwise its another year of pain for Labour - shambolic.

Jeez, this shit about british soldiers being exempt from human rights law ... saying the lawyers are 'harassing' them ... they're 'the bravest of the brave' amazing superheroes but try to make a court case against them and that's 'harassment'.

never, ever could i have dreamt how bad it would be, in my innocence

b-b-but....they're Tories?