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@Rubble Rider
Take note of chewkw. Now that is how you troll. Stay the right side of the line but still pop in from time to time in an attempt to wind people up. A fake persona like the occasionally struggling with English due to being from somewhere else takes some of the edge off. Highly unlikely to get a ban. Nothing to really latch on to. Pop up every now and again, have a gentle cast of the line, see what you get. If you get called out you can easily slip away again.
You have to pace yourself.
🤦♂️
Stopped clocks are still correct twice a day. There is a risk of this happening if the "non-Farage" parties split the rest of the votes, or terminal apathy sets in.
It's not a risk, it is inevitable that Farage will be a PM if the economy continues to spiral down. Well, might as well let him (people will suffer short term pain) have a go as PM to see what he can or cannot do. This is the process of filtering out all the phoney leaders.
In the current geopolitical climate, ALL leaderships regardless are under intense scrutiny.
I don't think chewkw's said anything controversial there this time, has he? Of course the economic situation would be easier to deal with if it wasn't for Brexit and Trump... both of which he championed IIRC. Neither possible without the tricks learned from Putin and his team. Farage will make it worse again, but then plenty of people seem to want worse.
Right... I'm also off to watch Hypernormalisation again.
And for those that say "things were already difficult for the UK before either of those votes, because of other choices made"... absolutely... and I can recommend Curtis' most recent series for a take on that you'll probably agree with... SHIFTY. As always, worth it for the soundtrack alone.
They are a new member sure, but to be fair they have started a couple of bike related threads and made more posts on them than on here. I disagree with their apparent anti-vax stance, but instantly dismissing them as a troll because their views differ is a bit premature I think
I’m sure I’ve heard some conspiracy theory that people who ride hardtails without a suspension post and with 26” wheels have a greater risk of piles, but I’m sure that’s not true… 😙
Don't you mean the Chinese and foreign owned windmill and energy companies will loose the jobs and income from manufacturing all this stuff for us. Wonder where all those taxpayer subsidies that prop up UK renewables will be diverted to instead?
I’m pretty sure the Danes have a significant stake in building turbines, as well as other countries.
Thankfully he seems to have a plan for that, to ditch the utterly pointless charade that is 'Net Zero'. That should save us around £30 billion a year.
A Donald Trump sock puppet, it appears, certainly promoting the same ‘dig baby dig’ propaganda promoted by Diaper Don and his promoters in the gas and oil industries.
How much are they paying you to propagandise on their behalf?
You might have a point, if it wasn’t for the fact that renewables have already largely replaced fossil fuels in the U.K., there are no longer any coal fired plants in this country. Unlike Germany, we will continue to have nuclear energy as a backup.
I look forward to the day when our prime minister is someone who does not believe that a women can have a cock and balls.
Perhaps you should do some actual research into people who are Intersex - they can actually present with both fully functional sets of sexual organs, as well as many other individuals with a whole range of variants in between, around forty if I recall correctly.
Please tell us your opinion on an actual fact of human biology, it might be good for a wry chuckle.
Oh, then there’s the wide variety of chromosomes that can be found, humans aren’t just XX/YY, there’s XXX, YYY, there’s even a W chromosome, and a shit-ton of variation of those combinations.
But you’ll deny that there is any such thing, won’t you?
After all, why should the EVs be exempt from road tax* and ULEZ and not my suped up 1990's XR3i with a bean tin exhaust?
* Yes, I know.
Not so much the ‘road tax’, which we all know hasn’t existed since 1932, but the fact that for some time now there’s been a flat minimum rate of £165, or thereabouts, on all vehicles, EV or low emission, since it dawned on those involved with raising taxes that having the sort of vehicles that most people buy on a zero or very low cost rate was unsustainable. When you could own a car like an Audi A5 sports coupe with a 3 litre engine, and pay £35/year because it was a diesel, and a little 1 litre petrol car like mine was £165, was starting to take the piss!
The current Labour govt has run out of ideas to fix the economy, the alternative might be able to do some improvements (minor) but in the grand scheme of fixing the economy is doubtful.
And there was me thinking you were a far-right Farragista, Chewkw.
Worryingly I have some sympathy with those views.
I suspect fixing the economy isn’t that difficult but it requires a good deal of commitment, ignoring popularity in the short term, a bit of social engineering and walking away from a London / southeast centric view.
Difficult for Starmer, impossible for Farrage.
i don't think it'll make the blindest bit of difference if he does release his tax details. The RW papers and other media will just make excuses and he'll tough it out in the usual way those without shame manage to do. They'll probably manage to spin it like a positive.
Oh, then there’s the wide variety of chromosomes that can be found, humans aren’t just XX/YY, there’s XXX, YYY, there’s even a W chromosome, and a shit-ton of variation of those combinations.
Dr Google says W chromosomes are avian - can they also occur in humans?
Is there a flow chart or something available on faceache that can show how/why he is now the leading candidate to deliver what the country seem to want?
The main proponent of Brexit, gets Brexit, Brexit offers no actual change but now people are going to back him again as this time we'll definitely get the change the country seemingly demands?
How is the majority of the country circling all these squares??
How is the majority of the country circling all these squares??
The majority aren’t. A minority of extremely vocal thick people, the type who like to paint roundabouts, are.
I just listened to the press conference where frogs-face welcomed yet another Tory into the fold* and once again he dodged the question about his dubious financial affairs in a way that no other politician would have been allowed to get away with
* it’s difficult to continue this charade that you’re not part of ‘the establishment’ when half your number are Tory timeservers clearly looking to keep their lucrative seat on the Westminster gravy train
I just listened to the press conference where frogs-face welcomed yet another Tory into the fold*
Danny Kruger, son of Prue Leith. He’s going to lean heavily on his Christian values and religion…….so yet another grifter going after the ££££ then?
If not reigned by some means then Musk will get/have his way with the reform party
And I know it’s twitter but….
https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1653677690547781638?s=61&t=27Xz8oI3pGlaNEQvowJBcg
I wonder how the good people of East Wiltshire fell given that the Reform candidate in 2024 was beaten into 4th place. I personally think an MP jumping ship to a different party should trigger a by-election.
it’s difficult to continue this charade that you’re not part of ‘the establishment’ when half your number are Tory timeservers clearly looking to keep their lucrative seat on the Westminster gravy train
Needs to be a key line of attack* for Labour to use.
*assuming that they know what an attack is.
not part of ‘the establishment’
This is just code. You can be president of the most powerful country in the world and still your supporters with see you as being outside "the establishment". We all know what it really means. How do you fight back against it though? Any resistance or opposition is painted as "talking down" or being "anti British/American" or whatever. When being "anti-facist", or "anti-racist", or more widely, in modern parlance, "woke" can be painted as being "part of the establishment", or "elite"... by billionaires that own all the biggest social media... where can the discourse be had that might turn this around before it's too late? If it isn't already.
by billionaires that own all the biggest social media
Remember the quaint olden days, which now seem about a hundred years ago, when we all thought it was funny that Elon Musk had spent billions buying Twitter?
Got to see my first lot of mass flag erections today*, which depresses me but also got me wondering what the quickest way to remove them would be & all I can come up with is a burning oily rag on the end of a long pole but that would inevitably end up with more attention than I'd want & probable criminal damage charges... anybody else got any bright ideas?
* A413 Amersham Rd past Gerrard's Cross & Chalfont St Giles 😕
Weedwand for the win
anybody else got any bright ideas?
Round here the local authority usually go big on remembrance and fix big poppy flowers to the lamp posts, usually at about the half mast height of most flags. I'm hoping they take the opportunity to clear the flags while they're sticking them up, should start in the next couple of weeks.
We've gained a flag on the lamp post 2 doors down. That's house prices buggered then
Was driving through West Kingsdown on Monday- every lamppost had a flag at half mast and c90% were upside down.
Calder Road (an urban dual carriageway) in Edinburgh got done just over a week ago, with a mix of Saltires and Lion Rampants. Its streetlights are pretty tall so the flags are all at third mast. Most are still up. I think that the lions are the right way up but I haven't checked to be sure.
Good to read the top comments under Nige's lastet announcement on the Reform UK website, sorry I mean BBC News.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c930xypxpqpo#comments
Whilst he is an odious creature he has a vague point, the system needs massive reform, what that is I'm not pretending to know. I spent two years full time and two years part time as a Case Worker. I lost count of a huge number of applicants applying for Citizenship whose proof of residency was a letter from the DSS saying they were receiving benefits for 5 or 3 years depending on the application. As soon as the application was processed they returned to the country for a visit that they had claimed asylum from. Secret squirrel types came up from London and asked us to report applicants returning to their home country they had claimed asylum from. The number was enough that they gave up the idea after a week and did nothing. My two years part time was back to college to retrain rather than carry on working in the system.
Good to read the top comments under Nige's lastet announcement on the Reform UK website, sorry I mean BBC News.
Similar to the top comment - My wife has indefinite leave to remain. She has been in the country for 30 years. We have two children (the eldest has represented Great Britain at his chosen sport and working to a career in the NHS). Also works in social care and runs a local scouts group.
Wifey is also a US Citizen (because she was born there and you have no choice) and holds a Canadian passport (she's Canadian!). The UK Citizenship test is a badly worded pub-quiz that most "Ingerlish" people would fail.
The whole thing is complete bollox and makes me very angry.
I don't normally comment on politics, but this latest Reform announcement has horrified me. I would ignore it if they weren't forecast to win the next election.
My partner is Singaporean and has been in the UK for over 10 years. She studied here, and works in a highly-skilled technical sector. She's built a life here and most people we meet think she's British. Overall she has been, and will continue being an enormous net contributor to the public treasury - having been schooled in Singapore, paying extortionate fees for uni in the UK, numerous visa fees and NHS surcharge, and now paying a high rate of tax.
She pushed through years of uncertainty because she loves lots of things about the UK, and ILR was an incentive that promised to eventually give some stability in her life. In particular there was a rough period during Covid where her employer was laying off divisions and she was worried about losing her job and being kicked out the country.
Retroactive scrapping of ILR would be awful and a kick in teeth after all the effort she's made to integrate. Just the fact it's being discussed is making her feel increasingly unwelcome.
Well then why doesn't she apply to become a British citizen? Singapore doesn't allow dual citizenship, so she would have to renounce her birth citizenship. Farage also talked about banning dual citizenship for British citizens. With growing anti-immigrant sentiment, does going all-in with British citizenship and potentially having problems returning home for long enough to care for ageing relatives make sense for her?
I'm appalled by this rhetoric that paints all immigrants as burdens on British society and dishonestly claims savings in hundreds of billions for revoking ILR. Why are people listening to this con-man who already led us down the garden path on Brexit
The UK Citizenship test is a badly worded pub-quiz that most "Ingerlish" people would fail.
My wife is Dutch yet so good are her language skills that most people she meets think she's English. A few years after she moved here (after never being in the UK before) she studied for a professional accountancy qualification in our foreign language and passed with one of the highest marks you can get. She also took her driving test and passed first time.
Guess what she didn't pass.....yep, we both took several of the mock citizen tests and basically I guess due to us not watching Saturday night TV or reading the Daily Mail or being rabid monarchists we failed them. The questions are beyond ridiculous.
One of my colleagues is now a naturalised Brit. I looked at the citizenship test. I failed. I just think I'm not English enough.
I looked at the citizenship test. I failed
Pre pandemic I had the same. Colleague brought in a sample test to test all us natives and everyone failed.
It was a sub GSCE test for a bunch of random dates/names and skip what makes them relevant eg I cant remember the precise dates of the two battles of St Albans but can talk about what they actually meant.
Farage also talked about banning dual citizenship for British citizens.
Well, he can get fscked then. I'm dual British/Swedish and there is no way that would work for me. What am I supposed to do? give up part of my job (that requires Swedish citizenship) and move back to the uk? Give up my British citizenship because that frog-faced racist thinks it will make Britain great again?
Wife and myself took sample test and both passed thinking it was all a bit easy. My wife is Belgian so is going to get UK citizenship very soon for a bit of Reform proofness and Belgium allows dual citizenship which is good as means we can quickly escape a Reform Britain if it goes full Farage.
How long before Farage starts aping the Trump/ kennedy lines on vaccines and paracetamol?
all his other policies are cut paste maga nonsense
thinking it was all a bit easy
History buffs? We have a family member who had to take it, and found it easy, but History is her hobby/passion.
Well, he can get fscked then.
With all this, the line is drawn from 2016. They'll be a way around whatever nonsense they come up with to be seen to punish people who work and live across borders... but it'll cost. Freedom for the rich, only.
Clearly Farage is drip feeding red meat to his core, but I think the ILR thing could be the first of a few own goals that limit Reform's 'breakout'. Most of his supporters are thinking 'illegals', 'hotels', 'NHS tourists' etc etc. Not that person down the road, ILR is a pretty large cohort and I think most people will know someone they think would be unfairly affected by this. My eg being my partner's 85 year old mum who has lived here 70 years, married a Briton, paid taxes, worked in the NHS etc etc but still has Singaporean nationality (mostly as they don't allow dual). As a lifelong Tory she *might* have been a Reform voter (although I doubt it TBH as she's lifelong), but obviously not now, plus I reckon some of her Reform-leaning previously Tory voting mates might now have second thoughts.
History buffs? We have a family member who had to take it, and found it easy, but History is her hobby/passion.
Not history buffs at all but we are pretty good at general knowledge. I just took this test as an example and got 100%.
https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-4/
Yes, there is a bias towards history but not sure you need to be a history buff for most of them and then there are questions such as where does PM live, what countries are in Great Britain etc,. which I would expect most people to know. There are also study books for this which I would guess cover all the things in the questions for those people that haven't lived in UK for 57 years!
There is also a 30 minute verbal test which again I can only guess is fairly easy as my Taiwanese neighbour passed it and nobody has got a clue what she is saying half the time
I'll give it a go...
First question... all about battles, none of which impact my life in the UK in anyway. I don't know the answer.
Second question... how often are general elections in the UK? Answers include 3, 4 & 5 years. We had elections in 2015, 2017 & 2019.
I think I'll stop there.
Agree, the questions are strange but I would bet the answer to the battle is in the study guide. Presumably you know where the PM lives so do all questions and see if you pass.
I think I'll stop there.
Fair enough, out of the country you go and I don't want to hear any of that you were born here nonsense.
Ha Ha. I was born here & just did the test.
FAIL - 17/24. Meh.
I am not sure what relevance obscure history questions have
Okay, I will just have to accept that I am even more intelligent that I already thought, and I already thought I was very intelligent but sure I will manage it.
🤣
Not sure knowing who Boudica was, and who she fought, is a sign of intelligence or suitability for life in the UK. I got that one correct though.
21/24 PASS
Definitely a history test more than anything else.
Okay, I will just have to accept that I am even more intelligent that I already thought, and I already thought I was very intelligent but sure I will manage it.
Most of my wrong questions were historical questions. I haven't studied that type of history since GCSE & have little desire to learn where someone's head was chopped off 300 years ago.
If the questions had been about the industrial revolution, British inventors, WWII, F1 drivers, British Athletic successes etc. I would have fared much better which I suppose is the luck of the draw.
Memorising facts isn't exactly a demonstrator of intelligence, is it? I could learn the answers to the required questions, no bother. Doesn't mean I am intelligent, have common sense, am more "British" 🤮 having learnt them or am an asset to society.
Did the test, passed it but at least one of the "correct" answers is incorrect. The National Trust not being responsible for maintenance of historic buildings or preventing coastal erosion in Scotland
17/24 Mainly lost on the battles,and to be fair i did guess one or two.
In my defence, I am Scottish and much of this while probably taught is English schools, but maybe not the same emphasis up here.
Perhaps there could be a Scottish version. Wonder what questions though 🤔
83% so I passed. 🙂 Some of my knowledge is 35 years out of date. I think the French and German tests which I did better in were somewhat more representative of usefull knowledge in those countries in 2025 than knowing who invented radar, when there was a fire or who Charles II was. The best preparation would seem to be buying a pack of GCSE history revision cards.
The point I was making was that it will be easy for majority of people - buy the study book, read it and then pass test.
If you can't pass it within a few days of presumably seeing the answers in a book then it is achieving something I suppose.
hyper real just get your partner to apply. Britain doesn't tell Singapore if you have dual citizenship and they don't ask. If Farage wins the grifters and corrupt win and benefit and you suffer for not walking through loopholes.
Just another example of where frog faces cancellation of ILR is so stupid, friend of mine is married to a German girl who is daughter of a couple of Vietnamese refugees, she currently works as a consultant oncologist in Wales. Ditto another friend who is married to an Australian who is a consultant anaesthetist....
And when I stop and think about it, it's repeated through so many friends, acquaintances and neighbours. A lot of them will have the view of "oh **** it" and move abroad if Farages plans come to fruition.
Did the test, passed it but at least one of the "correct" answers is incorrect. The National Trust not being responsible for maintenance of historic buildings or preventing coastal erosion in Scotland
Whoever set the questions doesn't fully understand UK politics*
UK general elections are not held every five years. Five years is the maximum amount of time allowed between general elections, the average time is actually less than that. Fixed term parliaments were scrapped a few years ago.
*Although to be fair it might have been correct at the time of publication.
Odd- isn't his ex wife German hence his 2 children would be dual citizens. Look on the bright side- wasn't the fly-tipped sofa born in USA, hence making him a dual citizen? Think there'll be celebrations if he gets escorted out the country.
friend of mine is married to a German girl
Like Nigel Farage then?
And Nigel Farage's current mistress is French.
I wonder how he is going to break it to them that they will have to give up their nationalities?
In a masterful way like Herr Flick with Helga I imagine 💡
Lets just face it, he's a click bait fascist. Looking for the next thing to distract from his own affairs and tax 😉 Boris, before was like this and we are all falling for it again, and again...Once we realize this turn him off from our feeds, then we will all be happier. It's all hot air, and tabloid politics...
BR
Jerry
Perhaps there could be a Scottish version. Wonder what questions though
Salt and vinegar or salt and sauce?
Odd- isn't his ex wife German hence his 2 children would be dual citizens. Look on the bright side- wasn't the fly-tipped sofa born in USA, hence making him a dual citizen? Think there'll be celebrations if he gets escorted out the country.
I think that Johnson renounced his dual citizenship some time ago, either due to political issues regarding a US citizen being a UK minister, or for tax reasons, as the US IRS has some very broad views about US citizens paying tax on income earned overseas.
Wife has just got the 3 books through for "Life in the UK" to prepare for test and the "Guide for New Residents" is actually very good and covers a lot of stuff relating to UK - History from early Britain to post WW2, society (sport, culture etc,.) and UK government and law.
All you losers failing the practice test should get a copy and try and learn something about the country you live in.
To be fair the answers in the book should be 200% accurate first
The only try answer should be sauce on your special fish supper. (I just do a wee sprinkling of salt and no sauce) .
17/24 - Fail.
Not sure where I'll be deported to.
Not history buffs at all but we are pretty good at general knowledge. I just took this test as an example and got 100%.
19/24 for myself, good enough
"Reform will deal with the Boriswave, the biggest betrayal of voters’ trust in modern times."
Apologies if covered elsewhere, but this made me laugh out loud, that or feel sick at the stupidity of it.
Brexit Benefit 🙄
Memorising facts isn't exactly a demonstrator of intelligence, is it?
It's not an intelligence test, it's a test of memory on British "stuff". My ignorance of Chaucer prevented a perfect score. I wasn't born here either, just to annoy Faragists.
Life In The UK test is also a test of literacy, there being no written component. As above, the questions aren't as daft as in earlier editions but politics especially can move fast.
Bloody eastern Europeans are eating all our swans now!
Well - except they're not. Farage just made up more rubbish but it generates more headlines for the ****er.
Since reform has been attacked for being the retirement home for the most loony of the tories I think it is important to note, according to private eye, they have been branching out and have recently picked up the rising star Lembit Öpik from the lib dems (admittedly he did flirt heavily with the tories and then ukip but lets pretend that didnt happen).
Dear God. We’d all repressed the memory of Öpik.
Salt and sauce.
So let me get this right. My mum was born in Dublin and worked in the NHS for her entire career. The British state made her choose Irish or British citizenship, she chose British. I was born in Edinburgh and have lived in UK my entire life, mainly Scotland but sometimes darnsarf, and I'll have to give up my British citizenship because I ain't giving up my Irish passport.
I fully accept I'm a "plastic paddy" but I'm happy to use the benefits of that if faridge becomes **** in charge.
Farage has been absolutely roasted on social media for the "immigrants eating swans" lie.
It's like he's in the weirdest dog whistle contest with Trump "illegal immigrants are eating pet cats and dogs"
"Well our illegal immigrants are eating the King's pet swans!"
Just **** off back under your rock you lying, hypocritical grifter.
I'll have to give up my British citizenship because I ain't giving up my Irish passport.
You won't for multiple reasons including the fact that Farage will never have the parliamentary majority to pass the necessary legislation.
Reform, the Tories, and now Labour, are engaged in a three-way fight to prove who is the toughest on immigrants and foreigners, expect all three to try to nudge the bar a little higher.
have recently picked up the rising star Lembit Öpik from the lib dems
I don't think rising star really fits the bill - he was my councillor in Newcastle in the mid 90s and must be about 60 now. Reform is an interesting affiliation given his name and family history, political manoeuvres, geographic moves and who he's bonked.
Obligatory #cheekygirls reference.
I'm not sure which is creating more mental stress - being reminded of Lembit Opik or being reminded of the Cheeky Girls.
Though given his apparent preference for short term relationships with foreign ladies, aligning with Farage shows he's committed to the cause.
given his apparent preference for short term relationships with foreign ladies, aligning with Farage shows he's committed to the cause.
And like Farage he has asylum seeking ancestry.