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ACADEMIC RESEARCH INTO the 2015 law which saw the purchase of sex be made illegal has found it has had no effect in reducing the demand for paid sexual services.
The research was carried out by Queen’s University Belfast after being commissioned by Northern Ireland’s Department of Justice, with the department saying the results show there is:
no evidence that the offence of purchasing sexual services has produced a downward pressure on the demand for, or supply of, sexual services.
The researchers looked at the operation of the new law and also carried out an analysis of the advertisements for sex work.
From 2015 to the end of 2018 there were 15 arrests and two convictions for purchasing sexual services.
The research identified and looked at 173,460 sex work advertisements in that period and concluded that law and little effect on demand.
In fact, the analysis indicated that there has been a 5% increase in the number of sex work advertisements since the law was changed.
The research notes that sex workers “reported a surge in business in the period following introduction of the legislation” and also found that the number of sex workers advertising their services had also increased.
It is estimated that the number of sex workers advertising per day is 308. On-street prostitution has declined further since research in 2014, from around 20 to less than 10.
Opponents of the law change argued that it also made sex workers less safe.
The research found that there has been an increase in the self-reporting of serious incidents on the Uglymugs.ie website during the period in question, including assaults sexual assaults and threatending behaviour.
The department however says that it is “not possible to say that the change in the law is responsible for any increase in crime against sex workers” and that overall “the incidence is still lower than elsewhere”
Trafficking
The research also recorded that in the period in question there were 31 arrests and five convictions for human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
On this, Northern Ireland’s Department of Justice concluded that there is “no clear evidence” that the legislation has had an impact on human trafficking.
“The research found that the legislation had minimal effect on the demand for sexual services therefore it is difficult to see in what way it could impact on human trafficking for sexual exploitation,” the department stated.
Reacting to the report, the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland spokesperson Kate McGrew said the findings demonstrated that their objections to the law change were justified.
“Sex workers in Ireland tend to work both jurisdictions so a lot of the findings in this report will be applicable to the Republic of Ireland. If the purpose of the law was to decrease demand it has failed. If the purpose of the law was to help sex workers it has failed,” McGrew said.
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Brand awareness is very important.
What a right pair of knobs
Like a lot of media savvy entertainers he promotes populist views on high profile issues. Try him on septic tanks, energy conservation, child abuse, abortion and education, regulation of a wide variety of areas and balancing the budget. There aren’t populist views, just a large variety of different views you have to wade through to compromise. Easy to through jibes like “I’d become one of them”. He’d make a fool of himself on the stump.
Russel Brand sees the bigger picture and as he said on the show that we should not be arguing over these small issues. The main issue is the banking crisis in 2008 and the transfer of wealth that has been going on ever since, leaving a massive disparity between wealthy and poor/working poor.
I don’t claim to know everything about water charges, septic tanks, property tax, but I do know that we bailed out private investors who took a gamble and this year we will be paying back 8 billion in interest on these debts, that we carry most of the burden of the eu banking crises, we pay close to €15,000 per capita,EU average is €200, we are paying 42% of the EU banking crises. Our government won’t ask for a write down on debt, won’t even ask, so don’t come looking for money off me to pay these debts, when they can’t even do their jobs properly.
Julie, nobody likes it but unfortunately we’ve had the style of government we’ve voted for, FG and Labour lost the 2nd last election despite promising more than FF. Lucky them. The alternatives
Left wing crew who promise us even more are even worse. Promising we shouldn’t have to pay for anything and that everything should be paid for by people over €100k. this proves they cant do the sums either. There are enough of them to keep us in matches and they already pay 52.56% tax plus all the other higher charges they are obliged to pay! Brand is like all the others – proposing simple trite and unworkable solutions. He’d be savaged in an election and he knows it.
You quote all the numbers, yes correct. but like all the “burn the bond holders” brigade you don’t offer a solution to our savings and pension funds that were wrapped up in deposits and bonds and how exactly the economy would have worked without banks. Oh and one other thing, it is highly likely that the state will profit from the Anglo and NAMA rescues and has been paid massive amounts of Interest by BoI and AIB which continues. the real problem we have is the surge we had in Government spending in the early noughties and the shock when it was withdrawn.
Brand sees part of the picture, but then like a lot of right-on leftists completely ignores the effect mass immigration has on working class people competing for jobs at the bottom end of the market
No one has an automatic right to jobs.
Lots of people think they have and free water and free healthcare and welfare. Its not free of course. just someone else pays. freedom = personal responsibility is not commonly understood.
Nobody has automatic rights to jobs, but people should not be expected to engage in a race to the bottom competing with immigrants coming from a much lower socio-economic background in a market with two few jobs.
I guarantee if you were a plumber, cleanibg lady or builder whose wages have being cut by 30% because of cheap east European labour your attitude would soon change.
Is it ok the race to the bottom competing with non-immigrants?
And how about we actually enforce a living wage and make sure employers pay people properly and equally instead of blaming people looking for jobs?
“I guarantee if you were a plumber, cleanibg lady or builder whose wages have being cut by 30% because of cheap east European labour your attitude would soon change.”
Oh please, people love the free market when it benefits them. When times were good and many plumbers, electricians and builders could charge whatever they liked, and were earning more than people who had studied years at college, it was all fair game. Now that the tables have turned and their skills aren’t so much in demand, suddenly we need to stop people entering the game. No profession is immune to it, it’s not just manual jobs. My discipline is software engineering and we had to learn the hard way in 2001 when the bubble for building s**t websites for massive prices collapsed that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and sometimes you either need to accept a lower rate or upskill and move on. Would it have been fair for us to come in and ask the government to manipulate the market for us?
Either competition is something you want or it’s something you don’t. Inventing rules for who gets to play the game and asking the Big State to enforce them has a long tradition though – it’s what kept women out of the workforce.
@search
we are not all as lucky as you with your handy government and pensionable job,and all you have to do is troll the journal news stories all day,its a great life you have,what i`d give to swap places with you.
If it’s a level playing field competition is fair. It worked well while the EU comprised of nations of a similar economic status. But expecting people to compete with Eastern Europeans who can live 8 to a house and accept a fraction of the wages and still save enough to buy a house within 4 years in their home nation is unrealistic.
Then enforce equal rules in relation to employment. I live in a house with 8 other people, how is the number of people in a house relevant to whether or not someone should be able to work?
You really are a vacuos idiot sometimes. Your experience of living in rented student accomodation bares no correlation to this debate.
1. I’m not a student
2. It isn’t student accomodation
1. I’m not a student
2. It isn’t student accommodation
I asked a genuine question which you’ve deliberately avoided by making random assumptions about me, yet again
Ah here. All Brand did was deflect from the legitimate question on immigration and the issue got lost in a shouting match. Not a good debate when you don’t properly engage with the question. Corruption should be tackled but just because it exists doesn’t mean you should dismiss any questions on immigration reform.
The gobby purple headed possibly psychotic woman in the audience did Brand no favours. She reminded me of some commenters on here whose go-to response when immigration is a topic is to scream ‘wayycist’!
As Tommy Tiernan once said.. “You can’t invade half the world and then get upset when those people follow you home!”
And this clown Brand has to get involved in our water charges too…..
Russell – “I won’t run for Parliament because I’m afraid I’ll turn into one of them”.
Hardly the sort of conviction you might hope for from Brand.
Its easy to be the hurler on the ditch instead of doing battle on the pitch.
Class. Another one to spout out over a few pints.
Currently Russell’s daily Trew’s videos are getting about 200k views each. If he went into Parliament his voice would be swallowed up similar to what happened to Ming in Ireland. I think he should continue doing what he’s doing until he has build a strong team around him with similar views. Maybe then, they could collectively run.
Brand was invited on the show for his views and he did just that, stopping Farage in his tracks from giving an election speech in a potential Ukip region.
Actually Brand exposed his pseudo intellect for all to see. Easy to scream from the sidelines about burning bankers but went rather subdued after being asked to run for parliament.
Stuck in the middle here.
I agree with Farage on immigration and the EU, but not much else. Theres no denying Britain is vastly overcrowded for such a small country and the strain further immigration will place on resources may be too much.
On the other hand, Brand is right tthat much of the inequality in society is caused by extraordinarily wealthy bankers and crooks like Osbourne who have no interest in helping those less well off.
I thought exactly the same, they would make a good ying-yang in government
What’s wrong with inequality? If someone is capable, like Bill Gates, of coming up with a product that 1/2 the world wants, doesn’t he deserve to be unequal? He could then use his billions to help eradicate Polio in India. Musk who started PayPal has gone on to develop electric cars and space ships. If everyone earned the same wages where would investment, innovation, new technology etc come from?
William,
Have you not seen what’s happening in India at the moment with Bill Gates’s vaccination program? I think you should go look it up
thejynxeffect, what is that supposed to mean? Have you been a naughty boy and been reading the tin-hat wearers web sites?
” Theres no denying Britain is vastly overcrowded for such a small country”
Isn’t there? Define “overcrowded”, Britain has a population density of 262 pop/km^2, not even in the top 50. The majority of studies on immigration show a small but positive net beneficial effect on the economy. Do not forget that immigrants tend to be young and working, so they are paying taxes. I accept that immigration puts pressure on schools and hospitals, but I didn’t realise there was something preventing the construction of new hospitals and schools.
I often ask as a thought experiment, if the immigrants were all ‘natural born’ what would your proposed solution be? If it would be to analyse each of them, see if they fit some criteria, and if not kick them out, then at least you would be being consistent and I’d applaud you for the intellectual honesty, if not the solution itself. If your solution would be to construct the necessary infrastructure to cope with the increased population, I’d ask why not propose the same if it’s immigrants instead of natural born? I think then, you’ll get to the heart of the issue.
William – 5 of the 10 richest people in the world belong to the Walton family. They own Walmart which the largest US employer. 70% of their staff earn less than $11,000 per year and they are not allowed join unions. Walmart make $7billion and yet their employees are living on the breadline. There is obviously always going to be some level of inequality but if the current trend continues the division will become more extreme and those at the bottom will have no power.
If Walmart paid their staff about an extra 15% then the company would make no profit. There wouldn’t be any point in having the business. There would be no money to open more stores or employ more people. The shareholders, which no doubt includes the pension funds of ordinary workers wouldn’t get any dividends. What’s your point?
The UK is on the verge of collapse because of un controlled emigration. The EU is the cause of this with the removal of border controls. I think the UK will pull the plug on the EU very soon and we need to do the same or the country we know will end up like the UK.
How exactly, in detail, is the UK on the verge of collapse because of immigration?
I thought I made my point quite clear. Come back to me when you base your argument on fact and aren’t pulling figures out of your arse like you did in your first line.
Lezlie, I am typing this inn London, everything is just fine. No sign of any collapse. The economy is booming and I suspect 90% of all immigrants are working hard today. Your gross exaggeration can best be described as garbage.
Mass immigration has turned many cities in the UK into Balkanised sh*th*les.
Rocky, Walmart employ over 2,100,000 people and the Walton’s make a profit of 3,000,000,000. from their 50% share of the company. Divide one by the other and as a percent of 11,000 you get about 15%.
Scipio, not really true, I lived in Birmingham for a good few years. The gang and drug culture that has plagued the city in the last few years isn’t a result of immigration. The divides in London run along the same lines as the class divides that were more prevalent last century, and East London exists because of migration.
Also Bradford really isn’t as bad as people think, in fact it was the Muslim community and Muslim leaders that saved the last synagogue there.
“The UK is on the verge of collapse because of un controlled emigration.”
It definitely isn’t!
Point proven William – straight out of your arse.
The divides in London also run along etno religious lines. As some friends of mine experienced first hand when they had to vacate the area they were living. The daily barrage of abuse for dressing like a white slut became too much.
I wonder if the Rotheram abuse victims share your sentiments.
Last time I checked people got abuse for dressing like “white sluts” from white people too. I’m not denying that it runs along ethno-religious lines as well, just that it’s along the same lines as class divisions, and East London has always been a migrant area. Is there actually any evidence that the Rotherham case happened because of immigration? I’ll also remind you that these things happen across the world at the hands of people of every ethnicity, including plenty of white English people. It doesn’t happen BECAUSE of immigration
Immigration is one of the major causes of the debt, you can’t bring 10 million immigrants into a country in such a short period of time, house, feed, clothe, educate, provide healthcare for them and not expect there to be dire consequences. But to downplay the effects of the sheer volume of people who have come to the UK in the last 20 years is to deny reality. No where in the world has there ever been such a mass influx of people as there has been to uk in recent years.
Where are you getting that 10million figure Lezlie? And how exactly is immigration a major cause of debt? No other example? How about the Americas? For example, European immigrants accounted for 40% of the USA’s population growth I’m the late 19th century. What about the Jewish migration to Israel? Even now the UK has lower immigration than many other places
Mr Smelly Little Animal, which figures do you dispute, assuming your infantile “pulling figures from your arse” means where did you get your figures from? Walmart also paid $7 billion dollars in tax last year which pays for a lot of food stamps, project housing, health benefits etc. Apparently hundreds apply for each job advertised. The average wage in Walmart is $20,000 btw.
East London has never even during the years of the great famine seen the scale of immigration in the last quarter of a century.
They left that area because it was inhabited by people who come a deeply mysogynistic culture, who feel threatened by independant western women. And no I’ most definitely have never heard a white person call another white person a white slut .
If you wish to believe the abuse of white of kaffir girls by Asian Muslim men has nothing to do with race or religion that’s your choice. But don’t expect tge rest of us to swallow your idiotic naivety
UK population has risen from 54 million to almost 64 million since 1995.
I’m not making an argument over levels of migration in East London, I’m making the point that it has always been a migrant populated area and exists because of migrants. Where’s the evidence, Scipio? Our culture is deeply misogynistic.
Well, in 1995 the UK population was almost 58 million, not 54 million, and how did you conjure up the figure of 10 million immigrants in under 20 years just from the population change? Are you suggesting that no one was born in this period?
‘Our culture is deeply misogynistic.’ For a right-on leftist like yourself maybe.
You’re really denying that western culture is miogynistic? And Irish culture? British culture definitely is. Brilliant way to avoid addressing any of my main points. What the hell is a “right-on leftist”?
When it comes to emigration England stands out as one of the worlds most welcome beacons. The Westminster parliament is well represented by former immigrant’s including party leaders Farage and Milliband.
‘Kaffir girls’ – is that East London in South Africa you are talking about, certainly not the UK.
USA number of immigrants,45,785,090,immigrants per percentage of national population,14.3%
UK number of immigrants 7,826.131,immigrants per percentage of national population,12.4%
GERMANY,number of immigrants,9,845,244,immigrants per percentage of national population,11.9%
IRELAND, number of immigrants 735,535,immigrants per percentage of national population, 15.9%
This a small example how immigration is getting out of control in our country,with the blue shirts and labour traitors at the helm,it does`nt include asylum seekers or illegals Yet the blueshirts and labour traitors seem to be happy enough with our doctors and our youth emigrating,as they advertise for doctors and cheap labour from outside the EU..its a false economy and the true price of what the Irish people have to pay for this total incompetent governments polices will be realised in a few years,but by then it will be way too late.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_countries_by_foreign-bo…
While I agree with you in principle, pure numbers, yes it is worrying, there should be controlled immigration just like Australia or Canada, that doesn’t mean to close the door but to open it to the right people with the right mentality and right intentions. But while the figures are high and should be reduced, I’d take our 15.9% vs Germany’s or Holland’s 12%.
I lived in The Netherlands and these figures have been very steady in the past 50 years instead of the last decade in Ireland, our 15% are mainly Polish and British which are Europeans who share our values. Germany’s and Netherlands 12% are mainly Moroccan and Turkish, we don’t have Ghettos in Ireland (yet) Shari ah like some parts of the UK and social conflicts, our 15%, we dodged the bullet there, trust me.
give it time my friend,with the current trend it won`t be long now.
Therefore all the Irish around the world should be repatriated and the people on the famine ships should have been sent back (probably to their death) as well.
Seamus – what are you on about? Repatriating people? On what basis? Famine ships? Less of the drama please. It’s almost 2015. Deal with the now.
By your logic all the Irish who have gone abroad to work and build lives in Australia and the USA etc should be forced home. No more going abroad to work. Idiot.
My point is that we are, and have been beneficiaries of economic and humanitarian migration i as has Britain, So UKIP and their supporters here need to face reality and not be so hypoctitical
Which means what exactly? We should ditch our border controls on the basis of something that happened 150 years ago?
There is nothing wrong or racist with wanting an immigration system similar to Canada and Australia.
Seamus – thanks for that. Some might argue as to exactly how beneficial that migration has been on the scale that has been happening over the last decade or so.
Leinsterlion, you copied and pasted this on another article as well. So let me copy and paste my response and see if you can give me an answer:
“This a small example how immigration is getting out of control in our country”
What percentage of foreign-born is acceptable to you?
You are right to suggest that our talented and educated people are leaving, but that is more down to (a) the fact these people generally have more enterprise and ambition, anyway (b) the crippling tax regime on higher earners, where the government helps itself to a massive slice of their income, and provides them crappy, uncompetitive services in return. All while an electorate moans about the fact that they’re not paying enough tax. Of *course* they’re going to have an incentive to leave.
Your solution is to put up the barricades, and use the apparatus of the all-powerful State to restrict people’s freedoms. My opinion is that if you really want to make it more attractive for the Irish doctors to stay, then you have to be more competitive with other countries. Likewise, if some Polish worker wants to come in and do a job for half the rate of the Irish guy, she or he is perfectly entitled to, as long as the employer is complying with all legislation.
@Juan
“While I agree with you in principle, pure numbers, yes it is worrying, there should be controlled immigration just like Australia or Canada, that doesn’t mean to close the door but to open it to the right people with the right mentality and right intentions. ”
We already have strict immigration policies for anyone outside of Europe. What are the criteria for “the right mentality and right intentions”? Are you only going to apply those criteria to Irish people?
“There is nothing wrong or racist with wanting an immigration system similar to Canada and Australia.”
Again, outside of Europeans we have one of the strictest immigration regimes. Ultimately in an increasingly globalised world, closed borders are the retreat of people who want their Big State to manipulate the market to personally benefit them. They’re no better than corporations lobbying for the State to do the same through tax breaks and loopholes.
@Search Eagle, our current immigration system is not that strict, there are ways around if you can prove that no Irish or EU national living in Ireland can do that job. All you have to do is make a position with a requirement “being native Hindu speaker and having knowledge of the local market” for example. And I was referring mostly to our asylum system which is a complete joke. We shouldn’t be having on paper 0 asylum seekers from Africa or Asia since we don’t have direct flights with any airport in these two continents with the exception of the UAE. EU convention says that an asylum applicant must be and can only be received in the first EU country they land.
A lot of economical migrants miss using the failed asylum system, then comes the family reunification, then their families, marriage, then the bride’s family, and it goes on and on
“our current immigration system is not that strict, there are ways around if you can prove that no Irish or EU national living in Ireland can do that job”
Believe me, if you had experience of trying to move here as a non-EU citizen you would not be saying the same thing. But regardless, if it was up to me, we’d slowly be removing the barriers to people coming here, as they belong in the 19th century, with the rules that stopped blacks, women and other groups accessing paid work. What right do “Irish or EU nationals” have to that job over someone from Kenya or Australia? As far as I’m concerned, if I’m an employer, the job belongs to me, and I’ll give it to the person I deem most qualified for the job.
Ireland has one of the lowest acceptance rates of asylum seekers in the EU.
From reading his previous comments I gather Juan is a Venezuelan national. Having immigrated here ,I’d be willing to bet he’s more knowledgeable in this subject than you are.
I do Scipio, although I was treated as an EU national when I first arrived in Ireland and previously in The Netherlands I know by having meet a lot of people in nearly half my life I have lived outside my home country.
Did you know that Ireland is one of the very few places where a non EU nationals can work as students and get a student visa AFTER they land in Ireland, all they have to do is show the Garda at the airport the English School’s letter of acceptance, a return ticket and a few thousand Euro, thats it! Then they go and get their student visa, is more of a formality rather than an application, they get issued a 1 year visa, with this visa they can work up to 20 hours per week and Full Time during public school holidays (June July, August, Easter, mid term, Christmas, etc). They can stay as a student for up to 5 years and 7 years if you do a Master’s or PHD.
There is a scandal and some English Schools were closed, I personally know one man from Venezuela (irish citizen too) who has an English academy and he personally offered me to forge documents if I can find students who wants to come here, he can make sure his college marks his attendance without them never stepping a foot in class, this and also other proposals to defraud the Venezuelan government with a preferential rate they have with the purchasing of foreign currency for students.
This man is loaded now. Of course I said now as I don’t need this hassle in my life, but I am now speaking as an Irish citizen and not as Venezuelan. 2500 Venezuelan students comes every year, 90% of them come with the idea of moving permanently and work, and I know by a fact that these are good people, they want to integrate, most respect the rules and just want a brake from the hell hole Venezuela has become when it used to be a paradise on earth. But they many who actually go to class and work not braking the law, it is our unique visa policy that makes it easy for non EU students to come as a students, work, stay for years and eventually find an employer who can help them with a full working visa. The same applies to people from everywhere.
I could in theory bring anyone I want from Venezuela, China, Russia, South Africa, Pakistan, whatever, all I have to do is create a job in sales that requires a native Spanish speaker or native Chinese, etc, and my business is distribution abroad, we export so I could easily say to the Gards that I want Mr. Chang or Ms Rodriguez because I can’t find a person who can speak native Spanish or Chinese and also having the knowledge of these countries domestic market.
I could keep going, before I became Irish I knew a very nice man in Portlaoise who got retired, he was the towns immigration office, things down in the country are less bureaucratic and he told me stories that would blow your mind, strangely, he had respect for Nigerians.
I admire Nigel Farage’s patience at having to deal with a gob$hite like Brand.
Maybe when Brand grows up his opinions will be taken seriously
Farage is the Arthur Daly of British politics.
I was hoping to watch qt later tonight and find out what brand actually stands for. At present it seems to be some version of open borders?
If Farage is the Arthur Daly, Brand must be the Wolfie (Citizen) Smith! : -)
Brand is makes sense on a lot of issues such as privatisation of the NHS and banking culture strangling the country, but his views on immigration are just naive.
Avian, I was thinking of Wolfie the other day. That’s mad. I loved that show as a child. No idea why.
I was actually thinking that now would be a great time for someone to revamp it. We’re going through the exact same times as then.
Comparing Farage to Powell was unjust. We’ve come to realise the wisdom and truth of what Powell said. As for Farage, he too is right about open doors and it is pathetic to see people flagrantly disregard his view when it serves their political views to do so. UKIP have published their manifesto and it certainly doesn’t mention only immigration.
Frankly, at the end of the day, electorates everywhere have become completely disenchanted with the system and in answer to their plight & powerlessness at the hands of these self-serving inadequates they have put into place to ‘represent’ them and not be elected little dictators, are rising up as they have always done throughout history – and eventually that means only one thing – Powell’s wisdom.
Brehon, you are a complete tool.
Powell actually began the immigration he so bitterly criticised in later years.
He actively campaigned for mass inward immigration in the Caribbean to bolster the dwindling staff levels in the NHS.
Russell Brand: a gobby git!!
This Brand guy is determind to boost his own profile at any cost,he seems to be turning up every where sticking his nose in where it don`t belong,bit of a clown i think.
I’ve not had the chance to see this recent qt, but on Farage and his parties immigration policy / EU policy…… What’s the problem? He talks a lot of sense as far as I’ve heard.
Nobody?
Well, they seem to think leaving the EU is the answer to all our woes, and where exactly does their view of immigration stop? Some members of UKIP have suggested deporting immigrants and children of immigrants, Farage’s own children would be classified as immigrants if we went with UKIP’s views. It’s a fairly ramshackle party, they’re not disciplined and the party policy, or the leader’s views aren’t a guarantee that that’s actually the views of the party itself.
Farage and Hitler share a common ideology
What’s that?
Farage and Hitler both fascist
Right-on, man.
They both enjoy drinking beer
Bias at all this report….
Do you feel this summary of quotes and reaction doesnt fit what you wanted to see?
Any chance you might be biased?
The quotes were selected
Stroke a furry wall
What the hell was BBC Question Time doing inviting Russell Brand on to comment about anything? Unless the subject is poor taste in pranks the man has no qualifications whatsoever.
Farage is a horrid creature and should have been met with someone capable of demolishing his xenophobia.
Farage/ukip gets the racist /xenophobia tag less so these days as those who trot it out are rarely able to back it up. I’m not having a go, but would like to understand what justifies this claim. I find that a lot of those who attach themselves to “lefty” or anti-establishment ideals, like to have a villain that they can rally against for perceived acts of injustice.
I think you would find it difficult to justify painting me as lefty or anti-establishment, especially as you have no idea of my political views. That’s just lazy stereotyping on your part. A bit like the lazy stereotyping employed by Mr. Farage and UKIP. Have a look at this…http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100261889/ukip-are-now-a-racist-party/
Bernie – I’m not painting you as a lefty or anything like that. I was making a broader point of the need for a villain from those who tend to paint Farage as a racist without being able to back up such claims.
As you say, I don’t know your politics. But what I have heard Farage say makes a lot of sense; at least regarding EU enlargement, trade and immigration limits.
He has no issue with anyone coming to the UK as long as they have a skill that’s needed and housing sorted. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. From an Irish immigration perspective, it’s not like we had a shortage of taxi drivers that we needed to fill, software engineers, definately, barristas? Not so much.
A good warm up for Farage before he meets Steph and Dom from Gogglebox for a true grilling this week.
I think BBC’s question time is seriously losing credibility letting the likes of Brand on their show. Yet again we another potential debate on immigration turns into childish name calling. The same sadly happens in this country as well
Lol. Once you have made it, then be populist for the masses. Paul Murphy = Russel Brand!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXADr6-K8D4&list=PLJgDzB_Zc6TI4S0GUSj7BVWYdbkehR1TT&index=2
there is a lot more on brand.
farage is right on uncontrolled immigration, he does however keep spouting the same nonsense of the uk having a judeo christian background talk about bs, they are recent additions …………….and have been responsible for killing millions.
if britain leaves we should consider following them out of the eussr also.
And lose all the funding for roads, trains, airports, education, research, healthcare etc etc?
He was fairly well behaved – mind you it wouldn’t have been the right place for his infamous ‘confused bath’ routine
Europe Adrift
28 members of the EU – the applications to join by the Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, the remaining Balkan countries and Turkey are blocked
Renewed fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina, stoked up by Serbia which is resentful at not joining the EU (as promised earlier)
Iceland aborts EU accession negotiations
Continuing instability in the MENA region, with no political solution in Syria; the US, Britain, France and Arab countries engage there militarily, using the “successful” Libyan model of limited intervention and “right-to-protect” argument, but unsuccessful in bringing about political stability
Turkey moves further into northern Syria to provide a bridgehead for rebels fighting continued government repression; armed leftists, Islamic fundamentalists and Kurdish separatists fight each other and the Ankara regime
NATO disbanded, and nothing (western) put in its place
US still embroiled in Afghanistan
Economic and social chaos in Russia, which has a knock-on effect in the Ukraine and the three Baltic States: Kaliningrad sold to the EU
Very right-wing Conservative government elected in the UK on the basis of an anti-Europe ticket: publishes a timetable for phased withdrawal from the EU
1.5% average annual growth in Europe during 2010-20: unemployment high, and social unrest mushrooms
Financial instability: Euro on the verge of collapse, (as credit institutions fail in the poorer parts of Europe)
USA continues to interfere in European affairs: does not favour creation of a largely protectionist, federal European super-state
Due to the large number of migrants into North America from Latin America, Madrid adopts the special European/USA relationship: a resentful London blocks further talks on Gibraltar
European social model starts to implode: immigrants hired/fired without social protection: prison population doubles: refugees and asylum seekers become the target of routine street violence: right wing political parties thrive (even further)
Popular hostility against European support for US policy: violent demonstrations everywhere in Europe: media war between US and non-US owned global companies: minority, racist parties do well in elections (again)
Emergency powers given to police in Britain, France and Germany to detain suspected illegal immigrants
Urban terrorists, separatists and mafia join forces to combat state authoritarianism: drug trafficking and addiction rise
Churches try to heal social wounds, but fail: anti-authoritarian theology rises in European universities, leading to violence on campus
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is revoked unilaterally by the European Council
Relations between the European Commission and the European Parliament become increasingly adversarial: significant fraud identified by four Commissioners from Britain, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania
Belgium no longer exists: the Flemish and Walloon speaking regions evolve into two independent countries: Brussels becomes a sovereign territory of the EU
Wider Europe up to 2050 looks dire: dog eats dog
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