DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

Khat is traditionally used by members of the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

Good enough reason innit.

They come over here, using our NHS, injecting cats

cool, are we banning everything that the UK is a transit route for?

They've been saying that they'll ban it since 2008. Surprised they've actually got around to doing it.

afaict a lot of Somali women has asked for it to banned but idk, it's a complicated cultural issue.

*have*

Graet, this is definitely the crew to work out the right answer on a complicated cultural issue

They come over here, using our NHS, injecting cats

Why they can't just ruin their bodies with fags and booze like the rest of us is just beyond me.

Breaking news: Home secretary Theresa May announces herbal stimulant qat is to become class C drug against advice of experts.

Theresa May lost a game of Scrabble after opponent played a spurious looking but ligitimate word, did something about it

but those were 63 points she's never getting back

uk farmers are lucky they don't need to use any qanats

The ACMD found "no evidence" khat [...] was directly linked with serious or organised crime.

no possibility of this changing, I'm sure.

bitter lol

Good thing the Home Office is upholding the Civil Service's tradition of impartiality!
https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/352411115629723648
https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/352408433506533377

Who wrote that second one, Goebbels?

Probably some Special Adviser to the Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda

Or maybe...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/76/Darth_Vader.jpg/240px-Darth_Vader.jpg

getting more of a moff tarkin vibe

That's Grand Moff Tarkin to you.

we're best pals fyi

"moffie"

second reply is our old mate Jonnie Marbles

Jonnie Marbles OTM, obv. Am increasingly sure he was OTM first time around too

ukhomeoffice The Home Office 4m
The #ImmigrationBill at a glance pic.twitter.com/zF8RJeZlXl

k, that didn't seem to work.

http://i.imgur.com/mA77C5Z.jpg?1

that's the tories in at the next election in then!!!

p_P

i'm glad we're going to stop illegal immigrants accessing services they are not entitled to. that sounds like a good thing. making illegal stuff more illegal is great!

this is the real effect of UKIP on political discourse playing out IMO- an even more competitive Dutch Auction to see who can be the biggest rightwing hardman. Very depressing.

let's be real, britain: it's us (white ppl) and them (brownskins). some of them are ILLEGALS. which team are you on? #sendthemback

Immigration Bill would:
- stop illegal immigrants accessing services they are not entitled to
- deport foreign national offenders except in extraordinary circumstances
- help reduce complexity of immigration law
- obtain individual building meter data

Slightly illegal, illegal, very illegal

sensible policies for a better Britain

the fucking bigoted cynicism of these cunts absolutely defies belief, and to think they'd pander to this idiot mentality for their own gain. fucking BASTARDS.

makes me pine for the halcyon days when Michael Howard was the loveable face of the Home Office.

this is basically sink their boats then build them new boats let them drown

It's interesting that Boris Johnson is basically disassociating himself from Tory policy on immigration. This stuff has proved to be a lot less popular than anticipated in the past but there's zero doubt that Miliband will be ramping up the hardman schtick as well.

I honestly don't think British people are that racist, on the whole. They know they're being fucked over by someone and the Tories are wagering that they'll be fooled into blaming immigrants rather than the people actually responsible. Could go either way.

makes me pine for the halcyon days when Michael Howard was the loveable face of the Home Office.

Or John Reid. Not that the Labour Party are much better.

They know they're being fucked over by someone and the Tories are wagering that they'll be fooled into blaming immigrants rather than the people actually responsible.

... public sector workers, people on benefits et al

I honestly don't think British people are that racist, on the whole. They know they're being fucked over by someone and the Tories are wagering that they'll be fooled into blaming immigrants rather than the people actually responsible. Could go either way.

this is otm. that labour aren't making any attempt to point out that the emperor is naked is v depressing,

David Goodhart will be along shortly to explain why it's time for left liberals to stop ignoring the concerns of ordinary citizens and engage in a sensible dialogue about sending the buggers back

Jonathan Portes takes down Goodhart good & proper here:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n12/jonathan-portes/an-exercise-in-scapegoating

ah no there is some kind of dialogue that needs to happen i just don't feel like any of the participants are speaking in good faith

how do you address the fears of people who believe immigration is costing people jobs although virtually everything they own is manufactured overseas?

look on the bright side though?

if you're a legal immigrant/native/illegal native you get to keep accessing services you're not entitled to!

Did they ever get around to doing those adverts telling Bulgarians and Romanians that Britain is a terrible place to live?

Worth remembering as a backdrop to this that the UKBA will be reporting much more directly to the Home Sec and will probably get even more politicised as things go forward.

ladies and gentlemen, lord freud (again)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/04/lord-freud-food-banks

I honestly don't think British people are that racist, on the whole.

tbqh i do think they are racist

There are definitely deep strains of prejudice that run through sections of British society, and structurally - in terms of the economics, politics, education, etc - the deck is stacked against migrants and the children of migrants (both directly through racism and indirectly through class issues) but i think the UK is generally more tolerant than a lot of other European countries and a heck of a lot less racist than you'd think from reading the papers and listening to politicians.

The Tories went in hard on immigration issues for years and realised it wasn't really the vote-winner they thought it would be. The rise of UKIP as a protest party, and the attempt to shift the blame for decreasing quality of life onto marginal groups, means they're giving it another go but i'm not sure it'll work this time either.

the UK is generally ... a heck of a lot less racist than you'd think from reading the papers and listening to politicians.

this. i mean, a) 'british people', like any nation's populace, aren't a very homogenous lot, and summing them up as a mass is a fool's game, and b) prejudice and bigotry are being amplified and compounded for very real and obvious political gain here, and to just say 'british people are racist' is, if anything, helping those who would like the british people to be racist. i'd say a large majority of the country is disgusted by the EDL, though the way the media amplifies it you'd not realise.