Bill

I remember reading somewhere that the French do actually stop a lot of the crossings but something that doesn’t happen tends not to make the news. We see the ones that manage to make it, so the assumption is that the French aren’t doing their jobs. The problem of course is if they stop them on the beaches then the chances are they’ll just try again the following day. So, whether the French stop them, or we send them back, they’re just going to keep trying. It’s a costly and endless battle that can’t ever be won and numbers will only continue to increase. It's exactly the same situation that we have with our drugs problem. Without any real deterrent, the police chase down and confiscate the drugs only to find the following day they’re back chasing exactly the same people. It’s just one big game for the both the dealers and users where the only risk to them is a temporary short-term loss. The only way to break these endless no-win loops is to have a strong deterrent. If it were announced that as of tomorrow anyone found in possession or dealing drugs or indeed attempting to enter the country illegally would be immediately jailed for life (or shipped out to Rwanda) then that would stop the problem in it’s tracks. As soon as it becomes apparent that this is happening rather than could happen, the loop’s broken and problem goes away. That’s my theory anyway. Bill 😊

If it’s to be a deterrent, then the priority has to be to target the ones that are about to set off. They’re going to think twice about paying the traffickers if there’s a high probability they’re going to be immediately deported. Trying to deport the 30,000 already here would take too long and while that was happening, more would likely just keep on coming. A hard line needs to be drawn, so once everything’s in place, they should warn prospective illegals that as of a specified date, the chances are you’ll be immediately deported. Of course we could all come up with differing solutions, most of which would probably work but I’d have thought that the decision to go down the current line wasn’t taken by any individual but by a collective with far more insight than the likes of you and me. We can chew the fat on the subject till the cows come home but the country needs to stop talking now and make things happen. Bill 😊

There’s a nice picture of St George's flag flying over the town hall on Worldwide’s news page. Bill 😊

If sending them thousands of miles back in the direction they came from isn’t a deterrent then you have to accept that sending them back a few miles to France would be even less. They’d simply join the queue for the next available dingy or sneak on board the lorries, neither of which they can exactly do from Rwanda. Could be it won’t work, but at least we’d have known by now if we’d have tried, but instead we wasted the last two years arguing about it, and we still don’t know. As the saying goes, “you’ll never know unless you try.” The only thing we’re good at here is making speeches and talking an issue into the ground. Bill 😊

I think it would definitely deter people but as you say, just intercepting them and taking them back to France would have been simpler and just as effective. Where we seem to go wrong in this country is that rather than just look at what works elsewhere, we waste time trying to come up with something different. Then on top of this, we have politicians who try their best scupper any plan by objecting to anything the opposition to put party suggests. Bill 😊

Yep their marches disrupt and can cause a lot of problems but it’s not like they actually achieve anything. Doesn’t matter how many protest, Mr Netanyahu won’t be the least bit bothered. He doesn’t listen to the world’s leaders so why would he take any notice of a load of numpty flag wavers. The government can’t intervein to stop them otherwise they’ll be accused of being undemocratic and probably siding with Israel. I think there are some restrictions as to what they can and can’t do and in theory people could end up being arrested. Trouble is that the police are usually vastly outnumbered in these situations and have to consider any potential crowd reaction that might occur as a result of trying to enforce something that’s a relatively minor infringement. It’s just not worth it. Marches aside, what wound me up was self-righteous attitude of this bloke. He could well have been a lawyer who knew his rights better than the police, but a knowledge of the law doesn’t give anyone the right to be obstructive. From what I heard; the officer was being polite and making a fair and reasonable case for why he shouldn’t proceed. At one point though, he did say something that people say wasn’t quite kosher. We’ve all chosen the wrong words at some point in our lives and it’s especially easy to do in a stressful situation so those calling for action to be taken against the officer should bear this in mind. Bill 😊

Lot of fuss lately about the Jewish guy that complained about the police officer who threatened to arrest him and restrict his rights to free movement while seemingly ignoring the nearby flag waving Palestinians. It was all caught on camera and the media had an absolute field day with it. Two channels in particular, Talk TV and UK TV clearly believed this was worthy of being the big news event of the day, both bringing in no end of political commentators to dissect every word. So, what started out as a discussion between to completely unknown people on the street eventually ended up as the UK being a police state with antisemitic policies. Maybe I’m seeing it all wrong but to me the policeman was absolutely right in preventing the man from walking into a potentially dangerous situation. Had the man in question been reasonable, he’d have accepted what was being asked, but instead he insisted that he knew his rights, and nothing could be said to change that. I’d have thought that refusing to comply with a police request or being deliberately obstructive would be grounds enough for some hands-on stuff, and if it isn’t, then it bloody well should be. The police do a difficult enough job as it is just dealing with the criminal fraternity, who also know their rights, but they can’t all be experts especially when it comes to race, religion and political issues. Bill 😊

Probably best I leave it up to you to pick a time and a place Sid as both my normal drinkie places are a bit far out for you. It’s a shame the forums been allowed to decline so much to the point where a gets together drink happens so infrequently and with just two people. Social media isn’t really living up to it’s name. 😊 Bill 😊

Fingers crossed the recent tit for tat fighting seems to have ended with both sides seeing common sense and both playing things down. I’m sure there’ll be extreme radicals on both sides that won’t be too happy with this outcome, but the leaders of both countries had to temper any ambitions and consider their positions on the wider world stage. Let’s just hope it can remain that way. Bill 😊

From what I saw on telly yesterday, it’s more about the fact that so many homes had been converted into holiday apartments making it difficult for the locals to find anything they could afford. I did a three-week winter break in the canaries recently but stayed in a hotel. Talking to many Brits in the bars though and so many of them were spending most of the winter months self-catering in these relatively cheap apartments. When you do the sums, it’s not that bad an idea and it certainly gets you away from the woes of our winters. As for them loosing their culture, I suppose that’s true to some extent but it’s the way of the world these days, just part of evolution. Bill 😊

Reckon foxes like a bit of duck in their diet Sid so not surprising he was hanging about. Yes there were some big showers Wednesday night, and the bowlers at Cadishead had to pause their game when the green got completely covered in a layer of hailstones. They won their first match btw after being promoted to the higher league but given most of them are essentially beginners they doubt they’ll be quite so successful this season. We’ll have to try and arrange a proper sit-down beer sometime and have a better catch up. Wednesday and Fridays I have to play designated driver but I’m free the rest of the week. Bill 😊

It looks like Israel had finally responded with a limited missile strike against specific military / weapon production sites targets rather than the countries capital. Not much actual news coming out just yet, but the mobile phone footage did show significant burning on the ground and explosions in the sky. The Iranians said they’re not that worried and aren’t planning any further response so a bit of hope there that this is an end to it. Bill 😊

I don’t believe everything I read on the net Obs, I might get some info from it, but my thoughts are my own and I think are based mainly on logic and common sense. The idea being put out on the web and suggested by yourself was that Iran’s on to a winner by having loads of weaponry that cost next to nothing while Israel will bankrupt itself trying to defend against such a huge onslaught. Look what actually happened though, do the sums and in all probability, exactly the opposite is closer to the truth. I can’t see why the IDF would need to overfly other countries BTW unless they decided to make some kind of attack. If they were to do something like that, then they’d probably just use ballistic missiles, but these would likely be a lot more accurate and sophisticated that what Iran used against them. It’s also been suggested that they may use cyber tech that could be just as damaging, and this wouldn’t surprise me in the least. As for comparisons with the Ukraine, well it’s a very different situation out that way so meaningful comparisons are just not possible. Too late for all this sort of stuff. My glass is as empty as my head. Goodnight from me. Bill 😊

You don’t want to believe everything you read on the web Obs. Some of the media seem to be using assumptions rather than facts in order to create a headline grabbing story and I suspect the reality wouldn’t be half as interesting. The Israeli military aren’t stupid. They might have some of the best and most expensive weaponry around but they’re not going to be using multimillion dollar devices when a pea shooter can do the job equally as well. Take the Iranian drones for example. Being propeller driven, they’re extremely slow, making them a doddle for a modern air force to shoot down. Target lock, burst of cannon fire and move onto the next. The drones might be cheap but they’re nowhere as cheap as bullets so in this case it’s guaranteed to be costing the Irans more. Cruise missiles are a hell of lot more expensive but they’re not super-fast either, or particularly agile and so can be taken out by the most basic heat seeking SAM or AAM. The cruise will typically cost well over a million while the missiles that shoots them down would be cost about a twentieth of that. Just like the drones, none of these reached their target so again it would have cost Iran more. Each Iron Dome missile cost £47k (about the same as a standard heat seeking SAM) so I doubt a Shahab2 Iranian intermediate range missile is going to cost any less? On top of that, Iron Dome uses some cleaver AI to identify each incoming missile, assigning higher priorities to any heading for sensitive or populated areas. Those that it calculates will miss are simply ignored and allowed to fall to ground harmlessly, thus saving on costs. Leaving aside the cost of implementing Iron Dome, the cost of the missiles it used would have been less than less that it cost Iran. I’m not saying the IDF didn’t used any of the more expensive stuff in this exchange but cost wise it’s certainly not quite as one sided as some make out. It's not exactly rocket science. 😂 Bill 😊

Good to catch up with you last night Sid after such a long time and just a pity there wasn’t enough time for me to have a pint and a proper natter. I told the bowls guys at the other place about your duck issue, and they all had a good laugh. Bill 😊