National politics

[Ian]

wonder what possible reason there could be for there being over 300,000 attempts to access porn websites in the last 12 months

MPs have always had difficulty with new technology, poor things...

[Merddin Emrys]

Although, no problem working out their expenses!  :twoface:

[Yorkie]

Although, no problem working out their expenses!  :twoface:

Most of them even got those wrong!   

[DaveR]

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg protesters chain themselves to Welsh Government offices
17 Feb 2014 10:04

Campaingers chained themselves to Welsh Government offices this morning demanding action to stop what they say is a worrying decline in the Welsh language .

 Six protesters from Welsh language pressure group Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg took the action at the Welsh Government offices in Llandudno Junction at about 6.30am this morning.

 They claimed the Welsh Government had failed to respond to the latest Census results which showed a decline in the number of Welsh speakers.

 There were reports workers were being turned away while police dealt with the situation.

 Campaigners said the action was part of a series over the spring they will be organising in response to the "crisis" revealed by the Census results released a year ago, which they claim is down to a lack of leadership and policy response by the Welsh Government.

Robin Farrar, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg commented: “We’re here to speak out for the present generation, and those to come, who should be able to live in Welsh.

 "There’s a real crisis facing the language, but the Welsh Government is not acting seriously. We’re certain that our unique national language can thrive over the years to come with positive campaigning and political will.

 "But, instead of changing policies and introducing new ones, we have seen more the same from Carwyn Jones and his government. Indeed, the only new idea Carwyn Jones has is to encourage people to email five times a day, despite him not even doing that himself.

"We don’t trust the Government and a number of top officials to prioritse getting to grips with the factors like planning and education which threaten the longevity of the language. Instead of showing positive leadership, the Labour Government is reacting idly once again. If we continue under this lazy leadership, we won’t see the growth in our language that so many of the public want."

 Cymdeithas yr Iaith members are calling on the Welsh Govenrment to adopt six basic policy change, such as Welsh-medium education for all, fair funding for the language, and a new planning system for the benefit of our communities.

 He added: "For over a year, we have written letters, held meetings, taken part in conferences and endless conversations with the Government.

 "With our civil disobedience, we are calling on Carwyn Jones and his government to take progressive and constructive steps to ensure everyone gets to live in Welsh.

 "We will continue with these actions until we see evidence of positive action.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/cymdeithas-yr-iaith-gymraeg-protesters-6716706

[Yorkie]

I personally have nothing against the use or preservation of the Welsh language.  Everything produced by Government is in both languages, road signs, public notices, advertisements and even many shops operate in both languages.  Those who want schooling in Welsh have plenty of opportunities to do so.

If, after all that, the public at large choose not to make use of Welsh, then no amount of protest by any group will change the situation.   In fact, by some of CyIG actions,  many would be supporters could well be  lost! 
 

[DaveR]

I see the UKIP polled the largest number of votes in Conwy, Denbighshire & Flintshire in the recent European election.

Given that Wales benefits greatly from EU membership*, I wonder how UKIP plans to make up the shortfall in Govt spending that will result from a  withdrawal from the EU? Does anyone seriously imagine that a UKIP London government will divert billions of pounds of spending to Wales to make up the difference?

*Wales receives, per capita, the highest amount of EU spending in the UK. It will receive a total of £6,000,000,000 in funds from the EU in the 2000-2020 period.

[Hugo]

It may only be a protest vote as non of the other political parties are listening to the electorate.   There are genuine concerns amongst the general public about immigration and the Benefit system but the mainstream political parties are just not listening and not prepared to do anything positive about those concerns.
Wales is not the only country concerned about those issues, England is and so are  other countries in Europe as expressed in the recent votes.

[born2run]

It may only be a protest vote as non of the other political parties are listening to the electorate.   There are genuine concerns amongst the general public about immigration and the Benefit system but the mainstream political parties are just not listening and not prepared to do anything positive about those concerns.
Wales is not the only country concerned about those issues, England is and so are  other countries in Europe as expressed in the recent votes.

I would say the 'concerns' are not genuine, but deeply misguided. Just look at the actual facts of both benefits and immigration

[born2run]

There are loads of good sources out there - this one for instance

http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-immigrants-pay/16332

It's detailed but the only thing you really need to know is

"immigrants are generally net contributors to the British economy, paying more into the system in taxes than they take out by accessing public services."


Given that overwhelming fact, if anyone still has a problem with immigrants, in my opinion their 'concerns' can only be based on xeonophobia.

[Yorkie]

"immigrants are generally net contributors to the British economy, paying more into the system in taxes than they take out by accessing public services."

This can, of course, be turned on its head.
The immigrants are paying the taxes from the wages received for jobs they have taken away from the British worker!  And due to this, the British worker has become a nett drain on the country's finances.

And anyone who doesn't realise that is (generally) a Conservative!   

[Fester]

There are loads of good sources out there - this one for instance

http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-immigrants-pay/16332

It's detailed but the only thing you really need to know is

"immigrants are generally net contributors to the British economy, paying more into the system in taxes than they take out by accessing public services."


Given that overwhelming fact, if anyone still has a problem with immigrants, in my opinion their 'concerns' can only be based on xeonophobia.

B2R, is it just possible that the figures presented to show the benefits of immigration could be wrong?

For example, the disproportionate amount of crime committed by certain ethnic groups (gangs etc) is a massive drain on police resources, which is not accounted for in your report.   Nor is the disproportionate drain on the NHS from those who have many more babies than the indigenous population.

The UK is now an over populated rock in the N Atlantic, which is unable to manage its waste, energy or basic services due to the overwhelming demands made on the swindling resouces..... and the inept management of the situation.

For anyone who says there are NO issues with immigration to the UK, I would implore them to live for one year in many parts of the UK badly affected by it.

[Ian]

The UK is now an over populated rock in the N Atlantic, which is unable to manage its waste, energy or basic services due to the overwhelming demands made on the swindling resouces..... and the inept management of the situation.

I can agree with the first part of that;  in terms of land area vis a vis population, I think we're the most crowded of all the European countries. But the Ch 4 website and UCL are both respected sources of information and research (and infinitely more trustworthy than the DFM) so while figures and stats are always to be treated with caution I believe that those at least, are probably more reliable than personal experience in terms of the overall picture.

That's not to say there won't be pockets of groups where problems specific to those groups exist but UKIP itself is enjoying its current success partly because it's never actually been tested and partly because the main parties never believed anyone would take their bigoted and uninformed ramblings seriously.  Which I find odd, considering they're aware people still actually read and pay for the DFM.

[Ian]

Might be worth supporting this:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/real-recall#petition

[DaveR]

The issue of how crowded the country is getting is a very valid one, I think. The Uk currently has a Population Density of 256 people per square kilometre - this compares with an EU average of 116.

At what point is the UK too full to accept any more people? B2R, I'm interested to know - where would you draw the line?

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/population/data/main_tables

[born2run]

The issue of how crowded the country is getting is a very valid one, I think. The Uk currently has a Population Density of 256 people per square kilometre - this compares with an EU average of 116.

At what point is the UK too full to accept any more people? B2R, I'm interested to know - where would you draw the line?

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/population/data/main_tables

The population density is not dangerously high, several countries in the world are higher, including Belguim and Holland. This isn't a reason to restrict immigration, which is FALLING anyway.