Points to Ponder

[Hugo]

PS   The net migration figures did not include the figure of over 40,OOO  illegal migrants that crossed the channel  this year!

[SteveH]

The number of cases of diphtheria among asylum seekers who have recently arrived in the UK has risen to more than 50, the BBC understands.

It comes after it was confirmed that one migrant who died after being held at Manston processing centre in Kent had contracted the disease.

The man died in hospital on 19 November after entering the UK on a small boat seven days earlier.

The Home Office said it takes the welfare of those in its care seriously.

This week, health officials are set to confirm there have been more than 50 diphtheria cases among asylum seekers this year, the BBC understands.

In 2021, there were three of the same strain, according to government data.

Diphtheria is a highly contagious infection that affects the nose, throat and sometimes cause ulcers on the skin.

According to the NHS website, it's spread by coughs and sneezes or through close contact with someone who is infected, and in serious cases can be fatal.

You can also get it by sharing items such as cups, cutlery, clothing or bedding with an infected person.

Babies and children in the UK are vaccinated against diphtheria, meaning cases are rare. However, the infection is potentially dangerous to migrants who come from countries where this is not the case.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63771091

[SteveH]

A Tory MP has issued a fresh call for a luxury Eryri (Snowdonia) Hilton hotel to be closed to asylum seekers " as soon as possible". Aberconwy MP Robin Millar wants the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Dolgarrog, Conwy to reopen as a leisure facility.

Mr Millar reiterated the plea as he issued an update on the migrants currently being housed at the site. As of Sunday, November 27, there were 87 people staying at the Dolgarrog hotel, which was commissioned by the Home Office to house migrants due to backlogs elsewhere in the UK, he said.

In a social media post he made clear his commitment to seeing the facility closed as soon as possible. He also said there are plans to reopen the popular hotel and Adventure Parc Snowdonia leisure site.

During a visit to the hotel, which he described as "calm and organised," Mr Millar maintained that the arrangement is "not right for the community or for the residents of the hotel." He wrote: "I learned last week that the pressure in Manston Centre which caused this overflow of asylum seekers has now been relieved.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/snowdonia-hilton-hotel-must-close-25629300

[SteveH]

How much has been spent, our tax money, on local government buildings recently ? already well under used......... 

Only one in 10 Welsh government staff are currently working in the office every day.

With so many civil servants working from home, the Welsh government is aiming to offer space in its 10 offices to other public sector workers.   

It said its vision is to "maximise the benefits of office, remote and hybrid working".
But Welsh Conservatives said the majority of Welsh civil servants should not be working from home.

The party's Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said it was "concerning just how few civil servants are in the office to ensure the smooth running of government operations in Wales".

But the government's aim is to have 30% of the Welsh workforce working at or near to home by 2026.

As part of its strategy, it hopes to "be an exemplar" for remote working with "no more than 50%" of civil servants working in one of its offices at a time.

In September, 10.4% of staff attended the various Welsh government offices on a daily basis.

Of the more than 5,200 staff contracted to work for the government, an average of 549 went to the office every day.
The average daily attendance at Welsh government offices in October was 11%
Attendance was highest in the Caernarfon office (13.8%) and lowest in Merthyr Tydfil (5.9%).

The Welsh government said average daily attendance in October reached 11%.

Mr Davies said it means that there are huge parts of the Welsh government estate not being used, and some lying empty, with all the cost implications for this.

He asked if entire floors of buildings were being heated for one worker.   

"When circumstances demand it, no one would begrudge civil servants or anybody else working from home," he said.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63822720

[SteveH]

Dolgarrog residents speak of the "polite and friendly" refugees at the Snowdonia Hilton hotel
The site was recently chosen to house around 80 refugees

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/dolgarrog-residents-speak-polite-friendly-25651751?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Hugo]

Dolgarrog residents speak of the "polite and friendly" refugees at the Snowdonia Hilton hotel
The site was recently chosen to house around 80 refugees

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/dolgarrog-residents-speak-polite-friendly-25651751?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

I've just received a Christmas appeal from the Salvation Army asking for donations for the homeless who are friendless, freezing and hungry.     The Salvation Army do very good work but why do our own UK citizens need a charity to help them out?
I'm sure that they would also enjoy 4 star hotel accommodation that includes free meals, heating, Sky TV, mobile phones, NHS treatment and a bus pass plus pocket money!
All those University educated Tories and not one of them has the brains to sort out the immigration fiasco that they have created.  If they could save all the money they waste on the immigration mess then perhaps they could look after UK citizens who do need the help

[DVT]

Too many do gooders ... you only have to watch QT, and it's not just the Tories.

[Hugo]

I'll agree with you DVT  too many do gooders, human rights activists and an army of rich lawyers trying to get even richer.
I've just seen the Salvation Army advert on TV and it's quite upsetting to see it as they are UK citizens in need of our help.
The Government is useless and clueless.  Why can't they just send the illegals back on the next available flight but set up a team in the Albanian capital to allow the Albanians to apply to come in to the UK through legal channels?
That way the UK can take control of its borders and select who we want to come in to the UK, well that's the plan according to Boris

[Ian]

Boris? Oh, you mean the liar, cheat, adulterer and fraud?  (Each of those can be proved, BTW).

[Hugo]

That's the very man.     It's a good job that Boris' dream of a bridge from Ireland to Scotland never happened or the Albanians would be walking over the bridge in their droves
The only people who benefited from his pipe dream were the consultants who wasted about ?900K on Boris' whim.   

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/26/johnson-plan-irish-sea-bridge-tunnel-rejected-official-study-expensive

[SteveH]

Snowdonia Hilton hotel housing asylum seekers could reopen within weeks as room bookings being taken
Around 87 refugees are currently living at the Dolgarrog hotel in what the Home Office has called a "short-term solution"

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/hilton-hotel-housing-asylum-seekers-25698380

[SteveH]

France says it is increasing the number of rescue boats in the English Channel to deal with the growing number of migrants trying to reach the UK.

Two additional vessels are being deployed in what the French Coastguard describes as an "unprecedented" move.

It follows criticism of the French response to the incident in November 2021 in which 27 people drowned trying to cross to the UK in a dinghy.

More than 40,000 people have made such crossings this year - a record number.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63912502

[Hugo]

The UK Government seems to proudly say that it has intercepted so many migrant boats that have tried to cross the channel   It seems a strange thing to say when the definition of intercept is "to obstruct (someone or something) so as to prevent them from continuing to a destination."
Both countries are as bad as each other and the result is a fiasco

"

[DVT]

Rather than deploy more boats to deal.with the asylum seekers making their way across why don't they employ more guards on the coastline and stop the boats leaving, and thereby saving the lives of the passengers.  The seekers could then settle in France, but of course they would not be given all the benefits that the UK hands out rather than looking after the UK legitimate residents.

[Hugo]

You've said it DVT and there lies the problem.     Even when we were in the EU  there were Roumanians and others who would rather be unemployed in the UK than unemployed in their own country as our benefit system paid them four times as much