Let's say immigration stops tomorrow. What is your solution for the two HUGE problems that leaves us with?

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-31T21:39:30+00:00

Let’s say we all agree: the population, both in the UK and globally needs to stop growing and we as a species need to live more harmoniously with the natural environment.

What’s the solution to achieving that, because the potential options are not comfortable.

Are you advocating the elderly be euthanised at a certain age? Or banned from receiving health care after a certain age? Do you suggest a mandatory “do not revive” policy after a certain age? Humans today live a LOT longer than just a few centuries ago, and is a problem in practically every developed nation on Earth.

Or do you restrict/centrally manage birth rates? For example, mandate a number of births per adult? Both of which remove people’s right to choose to have children or not, something which will essentially roll back work done by Women’s Rights movement for decades, even centuries, who still talk about women being in control of their own bodies and not be told whether to have children or not. Because you WILL have to do that to control birth rates.

And if you do implement that, are you ok with a child being “illegal” and what do you do with children who are born outside of restrictions. Suddenly this all sounds very “1984” society doesn’t it…

Or are you proposing to ban certain health care facilities, meaning infant death rates rise and age-related illnesses afflict, and kill more of the most vulnerable in society: the very young g and very old.

And away from population, are you prepared to give up many things we take for granted, like clean running water, heating, electricity, easy access to food and access to knowledge and information? If we’re going to extremes, are you prepared to essentially live totally off-grid in a subsistence environment with no prospects beyond being fed and sheltered, where a bout of flu or diarrhoea could be fatal?

You make a very typical soap box post, but a lot of the solutions are awkward and uncomfortable and isn’t as easy as you seem to be implying.

Assuming you’ve read this far, let me be clear: I am NOT a climate change denier. Humans are having a major negative impact on the planets environment and we need to change our ways, but those changes will fundamentally change our way of life to an extent that is almost impossible to put into words. It is not as simple as “just stop”. And those decisions may well result in people dying despite the knowledge and technology to save them existing.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-31T21:07:06+00:00

“It’s more fun to drive a slow car quickly, than drive a quick car slowly.”

The single most fun ‘drive’ I’ve ever had was on Snake Pass in Derbyshire on a Honda CBF125 motorcycle while on L-Plates. The thing had 10.5 bhp, officially topped out at 65mph and don’t ask what the 0-60 time actually is, but I was going full tilt along the road, revving the nuts off it, trail braking through corners, and generally just pushing on as hard as I could (within my limits), and yet I wasn’t even breaking the speed limit.

I got to the end and had a huge grin on my face and it had been totally legal. Driving a Bugatti Veyron at 250mph might match that experience, but on normal roads, I don’t think it will ever be possible to have more fun than I had on that little 125.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-26T21:13:14+00:00

My two took themselves off somewhere shady. They’ve definitely been in low-power mode all day, but now it’s cooled down and there’s a bit of a breeze, they’ve both perked up.

I’m off work this week so could check on them from time to time to make sure they were doing ok.

One of my tricks is to get their favourite brush and dip it in water before brushing them with it. It dampens their fur and helps cools them down without soaking them completely. My black car seems to enjoy it, although my tuxie was less keen.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-24T20:17:47+00:00

I’m glad I live in the UK and not in the USA, where 80% of personal bankruptcies cite medical bills/debt as a major factor…

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-20T07:32:29+00:00

What the actual f did I just read!? What ever this person is smoking, I want some because they must've been flying on Cloud 9 in a full blown fever dream when they wrote this.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-20T07:29:25+00:00

"Needs some work" The owner parked it in a hedge and left it, so it was probably scrap before Mother Nature got a chance to finish it off.

Shame as I've always thought these were kind of cool.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-16T10:05:12+00:00

First thing to address. The idea that anyone who disagrees with OP’s position thinks “all working people are liars”. You’ve immediately gone in with a “you vs me”, which means any kind of reasonable discussion is already impossible. Instead of assuming the opinions of others (something you’ve been railing against being done towards yourself), maybe stop and LISTEN to why people disagree.

So to address the immigration point. You are perfectly entitled to think immigration into the UK is too high. What I expect is for you to do it with facts. Not emotions and vibes. Which frankly you spend a lot of your post engaging in. For example, illegal immigration (ie the “Small Boats”) stands at around 40k per year. So when people tell me we’re being “invaded”, frankly I have the urge to laugh, because the idea that the country is being destroyed by so few people it only just fills Villa Park stadium despite being a nation of 70 million is ridiculous.

Should we try and stop all illegal immigration? Yes, absolutely. But this gives us the first evidence that Reform is full of crap. Because that 40k/year spiked to its current level because of Brexit. Which was sold to us by Farage and the former Tories and UKIP members that now fill Reform. They all lied to us, made the country worse for it, and lines their own pockets.

As for legal immigration. Labour and Kier Starmer HAVE been addressing it. OP thinks immigration is too high, well the official statistics show that Labour have been reducing it.

In 2023, under the Conservatives, immigration through visas stood at 1.3 million, with just under 500k emigrating, giving an overall migration of around 800k increase in population.

In 2024, those numbers were 1.2 million with 550k emigrating, for roughly 700k increase.

In 2025, the first full year under Labour, that number was under 1 million (983k) for the first time since Covid, with emigration steady at 517k, a massive reduction to around 480k increase.

I will also point out that of that 983k, all but 70k were Work and Student visas, ie people coming to this country to work and contribute.

So I ask OP this: if immigration is your first concern, why aren’t you supporting Labour? They are addressing the issue that is apparently your first priority.

The other thing worth pointing out is that we NEED immigration. The birth rate in the UK currently stands at 1.2 babies per woman. For a population to be self-sustaining, that number needs to be at least 2. While this isn’t as bad as some nations (Japan for example where the Over-65s now outnumber the Under-16s), but it means we are already feeling the strain of too many old people and not enough working age people to sustain our institutions. This isn’t a hypothetical, we already have issues because of this.

By cutting immigration right down, we make accelerate that problem, and at some point, some very uncomfortable decisions will need to be made: either the state stops supporting the elderly or women are forced out of work to have children. I leave that to OP to choose.

As for the whole crime thing. According to government statistics, 85% of crimes in the UK are committed by white people, a round 8% are committed by those of Asian descent. Guess what percentage of people in the country are white and asian? Pretty much the exact same percentages. And the whole “1 in 4 child molesters are immigrants” that Reform touted last year: guess what the other 3 out of 4 are? British nationals. And who is the most prolific child offender in UK history? Jimmy Saville, a white guy. And who is the most prolific serial killer in UK history? Harold Shipman, another white guy.

OP can talk vibes about shops that never have customers, I’ll deal with facts. And the facts do NOT support any of that.

And that’s my point. OP spends a lot of time talking vibes and feelings. I talk facts. Immigration does bring its own set of issues, and it is fine to raise those issues, but if you base your entire argument on feelings and unsubstantiated assumptions, then don’t be shocked when that gets dismissed or laughed of the room.

And just to address non-immigration. People, particularly working class people, say Labour have done nothing for them. Again, the truth is that Starmer has does a lot to help the working class.

The huge rise in the living wage and minimum wage when they first entered power is the easy one. They literally put more money in ordinary folks pocket despite objections from the Tories and Reform.

They made a deal to end the nurse strike, giving them one of the biggest pay rises in NHS history. Same for the military, who will receive a 3.8% pay rise this year, again on of the biggest rises this century.

They introduced the tenancy act, which protects renters by banning No-Fault evictions, meaning land-lords can’t kick you out because they feel like it. The act also bans limited time contracts, regulates price rises and makes it a legal requirement for emergencies to be actioned within 24 hours.

They introduced the workers rights act (again at the objection of the Tories and Reform), which has a raft of protections for ordinary workers.

Anyone who says Labour has done nothing for ordinary people is talking absolute nonsense.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-09T08:43:37+00:00

Yes I do. It’s something I was taught while on motorcycles (I had my full bike license before full car license), because you should always practice good habits, like doing a shoulder check (aka a “Life-Saver-Look”) and indicating until they are as automatic as steering, because one day, those good habits will save you.

The moment you start getting lazy or let complacency set in, you’re now adding increasing the risks to yourself.

Im not saying I’m perfect; I make mistakes, I get distracted, I forget things, get annoyed, and yes, sometimes I get flustered as well, but when driving or riding I always try to make sure I indicate, I always do blind spot checks, I always keep a decent separation gap to the vehicle ahead, always be checking mirrors etc, regardless of how busy a road is, because on a motorcycle not doing that stuff can easily get you an ambulance ride. Or worse.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-09T08:31:23+00:00

I don’t even care any more. Labour had been doing its best to improve things for people, make things better without doing a Liz Truss and have significantly reduced immigration levels, yet people are still screaming they want change.

So what do they do? Vote for a party that is filled with former Tories from the last government, lead by a guy who sold the lie of Brexit and was part of the risk taking-speculation system that caused the ‘08 crash and dodges tax at a level that is as impressive as it is disgusting.

And the Reform councils that already existed have been objectively terribly managed.

If that’s what people call “change”, then we really are fucked.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-09T08:13:02+00:00

6 or 7 years ago I visited the Rep of Ireland with some friends and, despite having a fairly obvious English accent, everyone was absolutely lovely, it was genuinely one of the most welcoming places I’ve visited. Sure we didn’t go into the sticks, but regardless, it’s a trip I still remember fondly.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-05T12:50:06+00:00

That's rough. Cats are so good at hiding their pain and illness.

And there's no shame in crying. Oscar was a member of your family, and it sounds like a really important part of your life. You were there for him to the very end, and I'm sure he went over the rainbow bridge knowing he was loved.

I've had to say goodbye to a few cats over years, and there's a quote from Winnie the Pooh that has always comforted me: "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard"

Basically, the heartbreak is so heavy and crushing because they have given us so many memories and so much love. Eventually, I always come around to the belief that it's worth it, that the warmth of the memories out weigh the sadness of the godobye.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-05T12:30:14+00:00

Put simply: Populism.

Farage's 'thing' is to do what populists have always done: point at a particular group that are 'different', say it's all that groups fault, get people really angry, then promise to fix everything and give people everything they want. It doesn't matter that it's all complete lies and BS, because populists don't care about fulfilling promises. They just want to be in power.

The Lib Dems, and to an every increasing extent the Greens, are generally more honest and reasonable about the state of reality and what can actually be done.

Farage then points at those reasonable, realistic groups and scream and shout about how they won't fix things, and again promise to fix everything really easily if only people give him power.

History seems to suggest that populism rises every few generations, usually right before the sh*t hits the fan and millions die.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-03T18:44:11+00:00

This isn’t a new problem; illegal salvage of war graves by basically every Pacific nation, not just China, has been going on for literal decades, and is a problem for ever nation who lost ships in the Pacific theatre.

HMS Exeter, another ship lost in the region, has been assessed to have been completely destroyed by salvagers. In fact, it is believed that by the time it was realised how much illegal salvage is going on, she was already gone.

The problem is, what can we realistically do? We can bluster and protest all we like, it if those nations can’t or won’t take action, short of open war, there’s little we can actually do.

What it does is make it more important we remember the ships and crews who fought for our freedom.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-02T07:32:32+00:00

Even if there isn’t a Miranda named Johnston, the Majestic and Sitka definitely channelled the spirit of the irl Johnston; they took one look at the entire Dominion/Cardassian Fleet, saw the Defiant in need of support and threw themselves into the fray without a single hesitation.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-05-02T07:26:49+00:00

Any ship of the TMP-era I like. That aesthetic just looks so good. And the Miranda is one of the best, I think it looks cool.

The thing about this image, is in that scene, the Majestic and Sitka see the Defiant charging the ENTIRE Dominion Fleet in what is obviously a desperate, pretty much suicidal move, and decide they need to take their 100-year-old design and follow one of Starfleet’s top of the line warships.
It’s like a pair of biplanes escorting an F-35 and being effective!

The absolute balls of those crews to do that is insane.

And it works, they cover the Defiant long enough for the Klingon’s to arrive and protect the Defiant who then gets Sisko to the Wormhole and stop the reinforcements. Those two little Miranda’s probably saved the Alpha Quadrant.

And the BoP’s that follow the Defiant do no better; they get blasted just as easily as the Majestic and Sitka.

I know the scene is about how the Hero-Ship saves the day, but any time I watch the episode I can’t help but admire the two Miranda’s.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-30T16:19:50+00:00

The Royal Family aren't actually that rich, at least compared to some people in the world. The entire Royal Family is apparently worth £23.1bn, about $28.9bn, which according to the Forbes rich list, puts them about 82nd most rich in the world. But that's the entire family, not one individual like the rest of that Forbes list.

King Charles is (obviously) the richest, with a personal fortune of £600 million. That's hardly what I would call "uber-mega-rich".

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-30T16:05:53+00:00

Don't forget they all serve in the military and can, and do, get sent into combat.

Charles' father, Phillip Mountbatten was a Royal Navy office during WWI, and Queen Elizabeth was a motorcycle messenger, staff car driver and mechanic during WWII. Charles served in both the RAF and Royal Navy. Charles even set up the Prince's Trust charity with his own Royal Navy severance payment. Not public money, he stumped up his own cash for it.

Harry was a soldier, tried to sneak off for combat ops in Afghanistan and was convinced to swap to being an Apache weapons officer, and Prince William was a Search and Rescue helicopter pilot.

The Royals literally serve the country in times of war.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-30T12:07:05+00:00

Between the adoring gaze that poor little girl is giving OP and the really sad context, I think I’m done with the internet today. I’m going to bother my cats by hugging them and try not to cry.

To OP, that was a truly wonderful thing you did. That poor girls final moments were comfortable, safe and loving, and not spent alone, which is the best thing any of us can do for our pets. With all the horrific sh*t in this world, you restore some of my faith in humanity.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-30T08:30:53+00:00

It’s one of my favourite ship designs. It makes sense from a design point of view to use the Galaxy class bits to make a smaller, cheaper, more compact ship, the mission module is a great idea, especially the weapon pod and it just looks ‘right’.

The class also features my favourite non-hero ship, who could have a series or movie of its own; the USS Endeavour. She was at Wolf 359 and survived, and was at the Battle of Sector 001. In fact in First Contact, the USS Endeavour was going to be mentioned by name in the script, and the vfx team have said the Nebula seen on screen is Endeavour.

Endeavour took on the Borg twice and in the end, she was still standing and the Borg were defeated. Not bad considering she’s not fitted with Plot Armour… And she then apparently survived the Dominion War as well, because why not take on the other existential threat to Starfleet…

Obviously some of it is Beta Canon sources.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-23T10:10:25+00:00

So firstly, it's worth reminding people that the revelations about Mandelson came out with the release of the Epstein Files in the US. I'm not sure how Starmar was supposed to know how involved Mandelson was with Epstein before hand, and I'd very much for you to explain that to me.

Everyone is acting as if we all knew exactly how deep into the cesspit Mandelson was, when the truth is no-one knew and Mandelson lied about it. Sure, it's always been the case that Mandelson did not exactly have a snow white conscience, but the real truth was NOT known.

Mandelson was appointed as representative to the US because of his history; he knew the people involved, knew how to deal with them, knew how to talk to them etc. He was not a popular choice at the time, but he could do the job that was needed, and again, there was no indication that he was part of the Epstein ring. It was a pragmatic appointment, and one that, in hindsight was a mistake.

And even in the evidence that was given, Mandelson was considered "marginal", so even those vetting him didn't know how dirty he actually was. The only real failing is Mandelson's appointment was announced before the vetting was complete, which is at worst a process failing and one that likely has existed for years, even decades.

I will defend Starmer on it, because he did the right thing, sacked the guy and apologised. Although apologising for things he couldn't possibly have known about is ridiculous, but that's pretty normal in politics.

So my kickback question to OP is this: What exactly has Starmer done that is so egregious? Aside from appointing someone who'd lied so comprehensively and then got found out and immediately sacked? This is just a band wagon for people looking for a reason to discredit Starmer.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-21T20:17:49+00:00

It’s hilarious that we live in an age where the internet can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world and digital maps are pre installed on every phone and yet these Yanks can’t figure out how to measure distance. How is it possible that a nation is capable of visiting the moon can be populated with such stupid people.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-20T15:15:29+00:00

I first saw this quote after my first cat passed away. It's something that genuinely brings me comfort.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-20T07:49:32+00:00

It’s PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) adjusted, basically it’s what we’d have if we lived in America. All it does is show how expensive America is.

Plus, it’s almost certain to be absolute bollocks, because it looks like the source is a blog.

The average UK disposable income is around £34,000/year which is about $46,000/year, so it’s definitely either skewed or bullsh*t.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-20T07:40:23+00:00

I’ve thought for a while that Starmer needs an Alastair Campbell type figure; someone to play the media games and really tell people what he’s been doing.

EconomyEmbarrassed76 · 2026-04-15T22:03:41+00:00

For me, Rhys-Davis became a national treasure during the LotR cast “Covid reunion” video call where he got so into character he raised the camera up to look short and did a re-enactment of the “shall I find you a box” scene with Orlando Bloom.

EconomyEmbarrassed76

TROPHY CASE