If you think GB News is far right, you must be Stalin’s grandad

Stalin, Starved everyone to death.

Over the past year I’ve read three biographies of Stalin…always good to get diverging views but there weren’t any…you wouldn’t want to live next door to him….. don’t forget the ‘Great Terror’ of 37 to 39.

Employing people like Farage who for some reason some people see as a hero is one of reasons I would never watch it. A fella who stood in 5 G.E and 2 By Elections and failed to get elected in any of them.

Farage is an opportunist politically but since when did they make it illegal to have opposing views… ?
Have you ever considered that some people may rate your views or even my views as politically unacceptable….?
It’s the globalists you want to watch out for….unless of coward one.

see the last post on the late autumn statement for the reason why. if he had stood as a conservative he,d have walked it in most constituancies in england.

Seems he has a problem with people entering a country illegally then next minute they're living it up in a 3 or 4 star hotel..

Farage is not daft, he knew he would never be accepted in the Tory Park so he jumped on the immigration bandwagon and has and still is making a good living out of it.

Well the bleedin government aren’t and the Labour policy is are arguing about ‘safer crossing options’ for the channel crossers.

without him bringing it to the public eye i doubt we would have heard as much about it than we have. the bbc would certainly not make an issue of it. when he went to those hotels there was so much security about the border force could learn something about it.

It’s all over the newspapers and on the net so people don’t need to look at the BBC, Farage was highlighting initially Freedom of Movement not the ones coming over in the channel, some people assumed that’s what he meant.
He was instrumental in stopping Freedom of Movement which has seen the skilled people, hospitality and Health Service workers go back home now we are 1000s short.
He has now started highlight the channel crossings again to keep himself in the news but doesn’t appear like the rest of the government have any idea to stop them.

Should call it the ‘BORDER FARCE’.

Who else has jumped on the bandwagon? he's the only i can see who has stuck his neck out on the matter..Seaside town hotels and b+b's down here are filling up with illegal channel hoppers at the expense of the taxpayer.Does this not concern you?Maybe you should chat to some local residents and see how they feel.

you do not need an official freedom of movement to get a job abroad or for them to get one hear. its just a bit more difficult, but at least without it you get who you want and not those you do not. we never had freedom of movement when thousands of west undian and asian immegrants came over here to do many of the jobs you mentioned. the fact is freedom of movement was only ever in the EU and not worldwideto the expense of citezens outside the EU.

It certainly concerns me but at the end of the day who encouraged the Arab spring and the problems in Afghanistan, do you have any suggestions, Farage hasn’t suggested a solution just rabbits on about it. We have sent £140 million to Rwanda money which will never be seen or heard of again and one the most ludicrous scheme ever put forward.

The U.K. takes the least number of asylum seekers than the rest of the European countries. There were over 30,000 asylum claims made in the UK in the year 2017, the last year for which data are available that represents a slight fall on previous years. Meanwhile, in Europe Germany there were 222,560 asylum claims, in Italy 128,850 and in France 99,330. Sunak has now said the back log of asylum claims will be complete by the end of 2023, mmm ?
What I don’t agree is with the ones from Albania, they are not fleeing a war zone or facing persecution and should sent back asap but apparently some just disappear. My other concern is the young able bodied single men, they should be put to work in some shape or form of course the political correct people would frown upon that.

rwanda was a joke from day 1 and was never going to work plus the extra cost involved. as for we take the least number in europe thats obvious with us being an island and they are coming from the east and get to these other countries first. anyway they are more able to take more than we do as they are much bigger in area and not as densly populated as this country is. we have this housing shortage before any of these immegrants landed and they are only adding to this problem. think most of us know already that the vast amounts of these claims will be just rubber stamped and allow to stay here, but where is what i,d like to know.

I agree, it will be Sunak way of saying the Tories cleared the back log but we will never find out the true number or the ones who absconded before they made an application. Also if any of them get refused they will appeal and lawyers will be queuing up to defend with the assistance of Legal Aid.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they integrated but we all know they form their own communities, we can’t even have a Nativity Scene in the shopping centre because it might offend some people.

you mean in the same way many ex brits who move to spain do with a similar good knowledge of spanish as many older asian women have with english. its common sense they want to live with those of similar backgrowned to them and for a bit of safety. do think also the stopping of nativity scenes and plays in schools is more about those in charge cannot be arsed to put them on anymore than any backlash they,ll ever receive from any immegrant community. like us with their festivals we coild not give a damn and like us they have their own problems, many the same as us. about time we in this country stopped being offended for others and leave it to them.

The one in the Shopping Centre was definitely stopped by the Council because they said it might offend other religions although I don’t recall anyone actually complaining about it.

Mr Jamie, shouldn’t you really be on the ‘Parliamentary Bunker’…. Or even the ‘Poolitics Bunker’…?

I can’t ever remembering posting a political topic, correct me if I am wrong my short term memory isn’t what it used to be. I do comment on them, if admin makes a rule it’s a football forum only then political topics won’t be posted but I think the Bunker would be very boring with out them.

Oh I dare say it would….

The government of the day, of whichever colour generates it's revenue mainly from taxation and borrowing.
More taxation means less take home pay and more borrowing increases the burden of repayment that we pass on to our children and grandchildren.
On top of that companies will generally pass any large pay increases onto their customers fuelling inflation, so furthering the depreciation of the value of the pay increase.
If business takes the hit it's profit is reduced which in turn could produce job losses and reduce future investment.
The big question is are there going to be any winners when the dust settles on these disputes.

Before all the Utilities, railways, steelworks, shipbuilding etc were privatised profit never came into albeit most were badly run. Now they are either privatised or don’t exist it’s all about profit and share holders dividends who are the large investors.

Of course investment is all about profit, who would invest if it wasn't. If the industries you mentioned were better run when they were state owned they would have produced revenue for the people, who were the shareholders. Instead of being a burden.
Not only does profit benefit shareholders but it also provides jobs and income for millions of employees, who in turn buy goods and services, pay taxes etc thus providing further employment for others.
Don't forget some of the biggest investors/shareholders are pension funds which enhance former workers retirement income.
Profit could be shared more equally but most entrepreneurs I have come across say "everyone seems to like the idea of getting a bigger chunk of my profits but no one as yet has offered to cover any of my losses".
The unions are claiming big pay rises because of the rising cost of living but rising costa are affecting businesses as well. Some are threatened with closure because of it, causing the loss of jobs.
The NHS and Schools are facing massive rises in energy bills and are now facing wage demands of up to 19%. Can the public purse cover up to a 19% increase in wages on top of the massive increases in running costs.
Where does it stop.
If the RMT get what they want, how will that affect ticket prices. How much more is the energy crisis affecting the cost of running a train on top of rising wages.
Here is something no one has proposed yet. What if wages were to be raised temporarily to combat inflation etc but when it gets back to manageable levels the wage levels return to where they were. Is that fair or unfair. The furlough scheme was a temporary measure, the energy benefit is a temporary measure as is cheaper bus fares and other temporary help.
One man's pay rise is another man's price rise.

Unless inflation becomes negative then these prices are here to stay unfortunately and therefore the temporary wage needs to stay. We all know that even if oil prices drop, we won't be seeing petrol back at £1.20 a litre or gas and electric bills back at 2020 levels as the energy suppliers were already whinging about their losses then.

those losses though are not what we call losses but a loss on profits they previously made but are still making a fortune out of us.

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If the RMT get what they want, how will that affect ticket prices. How much more is the energy crisis affecting the cost of running a train on top of rising wages.

its members need some kind of payrise to offset the increased cost of living. there problem is like all those who work in public transport away from the big cities. they are in a dying industry with ever bigger running costs with less and less customers to keep the profits up. about time one party grabs the whole industry by the neck and reverse transport policies from the last 40 years.

Public transport, buses will never make money in Hartlepool or similar towns, very few people use it off peak but it’s a necessary evil and even at peak times buses don’t drop you of directly at your place of work.If you work at the Power Station or the Seal Sands, if you drive you have to rely on a colleague for a lift. I don’t drive due to poor eyesight so I have to rely on the bus service though not for work as I am retired. I got a yellow taxi recently from the Railway Station to Bishop Cuthbert, £9.20. I wasn’t sure if I could get a bus as it was around 6pm.

if it wasn,t for the school kids, pensioners and those who cannot drive who would miss buses these days. some cannot afford a car but will save going on for about 700 quid a year on tax and insurance that would go a long way for the price of a taxi to there shops and stopping outside their house with all the bags they have. the present situation with buses with constant route alterations and time changes cannot carry on like they are indefinatly where journeys now are much longer than they were 40 years ago and its not just volume of traffic causing it. two rotes i worked on back in those days was a twelve mile and a 7 mile journey there the former takes 30 minutes longer and the latter 20 minutes longer for the exact same journey with a little add on to both.

They do indeed need the pay rise. However, I'm not sure anyone is going to get pay rises that are keeping up with inflation and I think even the nurses would compromise (no more than a little I hope) bless them. There is a bit of pain for us all (except the usual elites of course) to take these days but nobody should be saddled with the full wallop. You know what's going to happen anyway, it always does, in one hand and out the other.

i,ll just throw this into the arguement. do we actually deserve the pay we are getting and do businesses deserve their profits they are making out of us and the country. we keep being told we are this or that best economy in the world but walking through the streets its hard to think of how it would be if we were only 5 worse off than where we are at present. its getting increasingly depressing walking round any small or medium sized towns nowadays from rough sleepers to closed down shops.

As for closed shops, retail parks and online shopping are the problem.

they are, but they started closing before the retail parks were built and online shopping was in its infancy. still think supermarkets are the main culprit where even getting fuel is more and more difficult if you want to find a non supermarket filling station.

Supermarkets are to blame not online or retail parks, supermarkets were there before online shopping and retail parks, small businesses like butchers, fruit and veg shops couldn’t compete and milk was a loss leader for supermarkets, also supermarkets were 1 stop shopping. Supermarkets screwed the suppliers as well, if you don’t like what we are offering we will go elsewhere, held them to ransom.

Supermarkets have been around since the sixties, the internet is changing everything.

Stockton have the right idea and are demolishing the Castlegate centre as there is over capasity of retail units.
Wake up Hartlepool Council.

Stockton shot itself in the foot years ago by building Wellington Square…seems to see itself as a High Street entertainment venue more than a shopping centre.

The Council don’t own the shopping centre, if they wanted to demolish it they would have to buy it.

I can’t disagree but over the years we have seen the demise of local traders from the high street, things have changed since the sixties, we moved on to where both parents are working and they don’t have time to go round shopping at the small individual traders. Look how how many stalls have disappeared from the indoor market, we have one fruit and veg and 1 butchers no idea how they exist.

During the pandemic many of the elderly took to shopping online for their groceries and have continued to do that. Personally when it comes to fruit and veg we like to choose our own.

Great if you have the choice, most supermarkets fruit and veg is pre packed, abroad in general they have stuck to select your own. In Italy where I shopped you had to put a plastic glove on and the Italians were quick to point it out if you didn’t.

Even with the prepacked you can still see what you're getting but we have a fruit and veg shop in our village and it's all loose. You can go in there pick what you want and if the bag is a bit heavy, they will deliver it. Lots of loose in Morrison's as well. Donny market has some really good fruit and veg stalls, plus a good selection of stalls in the fresh fish market and at least half a dozen butchers stalls.
This time of year the market really reflects the Christmas of old. It's busy and a bit hectic but the atmosphere is electric. I think so anyway. I suppose it doesn't appeal to the bah humbug society.
One of the best markets I have been to abroad is in Valencia. Cracking market that one.

I remember a fruit and veg stall when the Hartlepool open market was in its prime, one stall had a great display at the front, if you asked for any of it they took it from the back leaving the stuff on display untouched. Fella ask for what ever stall holder immediately turned round to get the stuff behind him, nope the fella said I want the stuff from the front not the c*** from the back, stall holder was none too happy.

Yes they are looking to the future rather than the past.

I cant help thinking that its profitability must be marginal with it not attracting good rents,low occupancy,high repairs etc so the purchase price may be low. The demolition cost may be more than the lands worth. Council would be concerned with the loss of rates if stores could not relocate though.

They soon get a reputation doing that. I have seen that done though. All you do is say I've changed my mind and walk away.

Middleton Grange was built 10 years too late on a flawed retail design but Councillor’s where impressed by the idea.
Out of interest my old man showed me paperwork in the 80’s that the regional planning board at the time in Newcastle steeped in to block it’s construction as the did not believe it wise to physically move from an established area to a distance that far away and disrupt the pattern of shopping and impinge onto housing areas to build it …..leaving the original established shopping area a wasteland …oh they built the Flamborough Walk complex…that was a masterpiece of urban housing…… with the lifespan of a mayfly.

They did the exactly the same in my town of birth knocked the ‘heart’ out of the town built a new shopping centre and multi storey car park along with a new bus station. They are now in the process of demolishing the car park Some great architectural buildings were demolished along with some great community bars, John Polson comes to mind in some of the decisions that were made back then.

Looking back on Lynn Street it would have been great pedestrianised, there were pubs on most corners which doubtless have been bars and cafes now with space behind for expansion and made Church Street more vibrant….but, give a Councillor a big shiny ‘artists impression’ of anything and they’ll sign up…they don’t do imagination, someone does it for them.