kent_white

Not seeing anything being reported, yet.......

Be interesting to see where the US stand if the Argies try to take it back by force again. Fuck 'em. We should just start whipping out own banners out next time we play them. Cunts.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

Mind boggling mate

But Nigel Farage is?

Alternatively someone will come up with a humourous nickname for him like 'Randy Burnham' - believe every meme they read and then go on another roundabout painting spree - despite being much of the cause of the state we find the country in. It was ever thus.

Thanks mate. Presumably it's not on the dodgy box then?

Is the match today available to view anywhere?

Fair enough. Yeah that one did take place. But it was about missile placements - not the advance of NATO further into Eastern Europe or Ukraine.

Speaking of which. I quite often feel like MC in the clip which has just popped up on my newsfeed on Wanderersways 😂 https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BViuHESLb/

Is there anything he could do which would make you change your opinion of him? Or make you feel like he'd actually done a good job? Or are you completely writing him off before he starts?

Yep - it does seem as if the building blocks for this are being put it place. If you ever wanted to see a authoritarian regime trying to install itself in real time. Here it is. Our 'students of history' should be well aware of this.

VZ stayed in Kiev didn't he? I always assumed it was the opposite and that he refused to be evacuated? Didn't he say something along the lines of 'I need weapons. Not a route out' at the time? There were loads of reasons the Russian advance failed. Chinese tyres might have been one of them - but there were loads more. From what I've read, I don't think there's any documented evidence of that meeting between CR and Putin you've discussed. There were verbal assurances in the early 90's that were on record though. 'Not one inch further east' or whatever? I like these discussions as it makes me feel like Mark Corrigan off Peep Show! 😂

I was just about to say the same thing! 😁

Agreed. Fuck him off. Last night was the most humiliating capitulations I've ever seen from an England team. I don't think he will come back from that. Agreed with some of the others. That was worse than anything we saw under Southgate.

I don't know mate. And I can't be arsed arguing about it. Can we just agree that it's broadly positive news on immigration - small boats and net migration. Whoever is responsible for the improvement? And whatever recent dataset we're comparing it with?

Yes the trajectory continued to rise during Labours first year in office. It peaked (hopefully) and is now starting to come down. Too early to say if that's a genuine trend or just noise, but it doesn't fit "the rise started when Labour took over" narrative either. Also - it wasn't 'declining for last 18 months of the tories'. It peaked in 2022, came down 36% in 2023 (your decline presumably) but then went up by 43% in their final 6 months in office in 2024. Well Jan to March anyway. We can spin it whichever way we choose. But I'd just say that the UK governments strategy over the past 5 years has been broadly successful in reducing the numbers of people arriving by small boats. How about that? Very difficult to completely attribute it to one party or one policy when there are so many contributing factors.

Correct if you're only looking at raw numbers. But if you're looking at the trajectory - the rise started way before Labour came to power. It rose for Labours first 12 months in office but states to come down in 2025/26 and is down further in 2026/27. Which to me says that the collective actions by the out going Tory government and the incoming Labour one have been pretty successful in reversing the trend.

They're probably annoyed that they didn't get automatic first dibs. Which you'd expect them too of course given that they're a Marxist mouthpiece 😉

Sorry - I forgot to put the links in 🤣 Being spun by both sides clearly - but take all that away and the numbers are encouraging The London EconomicSmall boat crossings plummet in first half of 2026The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has plummeted by in the first half of 2026, new Home Office figures show.The London EconomicGB News admits 'smash the gangs' is working, as small boa...Stopped the boats? New figures show a steep drop in Channel crossings for 2026 - forcing GB News into a 'begrudging' admission.

I don't even think this is a left/right thing necessarily. I imagine it will be the same whoever gets into number 10. Just coming more vociferously from different sources depending on who wins.

I don't think they've changed the methodology as far as I'm aware. But I think these are 2026 figures? I can only find this - from a left leaning title - but it seems like even GN News are acknowledging it. Be interesting to see whether this trend continues - but 40% would suggest it's not just a statistical blip. Or if it is - it's a bloody big one.

Jesus - have they started on him already?

Like I keep saying. It takes years to turn something like this around. Rishi did some good work in this regard which is only just starting to pay off. We have to stop expecting things to suddenly change in a matter of months. It's like turning an oil tanker around. And also interesting that Labour didn't decide to reverse these decisions for ideological reasons Decent result on small boats too! Still a long way to go and a backlog to deal with. But green shoots! 👍

Is that right? Net migration is down 82%? That's some effort if the figures haven't been spun!