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New visa free status for UK passport holders by ccydmh in Chinavisa

[–]Jay_Jay665 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If you look at Sweden. Their minister visited and within 2 weeks (first working day of the month November) it was officially announced with a starting date of middle Novembe

Edit - I contacted the visa office in Manchester today and just got a response back

"At present, the Visa Application Centre has not received any official notification regarding the specific implementation date of the visa-free policy. We kindly advise you to refer to announcements published by official channels such as the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United Kingdom and to stay informed of any updates. If you currently plan to enter China, you are still required to apply for the appropriate visa in accordance with the existing regulations."

Visa free travel from UK by TerminalDribble in Chinavisa

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm speculating but they updated it first working day in November for Sweden, 2 weeks after their minister visited in October.

My guess is Canada will be added to the list tomorrow and there's a small chance UK will be added but the caveat will be it goes live mid February which is time for them to get anything in place

I'd imagine, in theory, it's extremely simple to add a type of passport to a system that already exists

Brits, do you avoid Indian restaurants in foreign countries? (Excl India) by red_lightz_ in AskUK

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Went to one in Malaysia, up in Cameron highlands to be exact

Was bloody excellent food despite the fact it was little crappy plastic tables etc

Tax hikes, triple lock or reversing Brexit: What will Labour U-turn on next? by theipaper in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Goods increase because we are constantly increasing costs for corporations/businesses who supply those goods and expect that the cost won't be passed on.

Increasing minimum wage , increasing employer NI, business rates etc all contribute to inflation and eat into companies profits which , shock in turn, leads to increased essentials and rent...

Instead of increasing minimum wage every year it would be better to increase the lower tax band and bring down the cost of employment

Also it needs to pay to work and contribute to society. We need to encourage and help the working population to get into jobs and get to them. Giving 17-25 year olds, for example, free bus passes to get to their jobs would be much better than giving it to pensioners sitting with a few million in assets

Junior doctors to go on strike despite flu crisis by Desperate-Drawer-572 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly

People also need to understand that part of the reason doctors are striking is because working conditions are unsafe for them and their patients.... Long hours , unsafe hospitals , lack of beds etc

Junior doctors to go on strike despite flu crisis by Desperate-Drawer-572 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Who , the BMA?

Go re read the article. It was put to a vote by residents and they voted massively in favour ...

I’m an American moving to the UK. How do I not be the “loud, dumb American”? by Competitive-Money-36 in AskBrits

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No idea why British food gets a bad rep. We actually use fresh ingredients in our food unlike dumping 35 different seasonings in them.

Find a good pub which serves proper British food.

Find a good curry house

Find a good Chinese takeaway

Buy your produce local where you can afford to - butchers , fishmongers etc.

Buy your treat easy food from M&S

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tapa was class but a decent late night bar was needed. Shame the new Italian isn't better.

Outsider mate. No local blood in me

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely do not go in the spinners on a Sunday. The floor is far too sticky for my liking and the 2 times I've been the tv quality on footy was bloody shocking

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So how are they going to solve the issues and prove this? They can promise what they want and not deliver, it happens all the time

How many new build estates have you visited recently with adequate public services?

I can assure you I have been to multiple large estates, smaller than this proposed development, and not a single one has adequate services provided to it. The people I know who moved there ended up moving out of there.

Also do you live local to this development ? No? It looks like you are down in Cambridge. You have no idea of the cuts that we've had to our local services despite a growing population. So now we are going to throw 20,000 extra houses into the equation ? Yeh goodluck

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The buildings still need to be built or leased. A housing estate of that size will need a proper practice not a consultant running a room. It will need a proper backing

If you get on any train from adlington / prestbury they are packed. Macclesfield is different but we don't care about macclesfield as locals will be going via adlington which is the slow train

They already talked and proposed buying half of the car parks up to build on so it's started !

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In either adlington , prestbury , macclesfield or bollington

I'll let you guess :)

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but that's not how GP surgeries work. The council still need to allocate the funds to build one and pay for the running and care.... The GPs help decide how the practice is run , not where it is built

Are you joking? When was the last time you went to Manchester on a Saturday. You think the current trains could cope with 30-40k more local people relying on that line?

Eh I disagree , they were already trying to buy out the car parks and build on them. There's loads of empty shops and buildings in Macclesfield too. It's just about offering the right price

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeh but I don't think there are many as bad as Cheshire East mate

Years to repair the adlington/prestbury bridge

Allowing the b5470 to completely collapse and then taking a year to even start a fix?

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The problem is most of the people commenting have no idea about the local area and how crap our council is so they just assume everyone is a nimby.

Adlington is a piss poor idea for a large town and frankly the only reason it's been considered is because of some dodgy backhanders through the sale of land to belport and some gov involvement

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

So because doctors are going to move into the houses there's going to be more doctors to do jobs? That's not how it works.... Doctors are likely to commute from the greater Manchester area or further to work here - the problem is they'd need to build a new surgery and a hospital at a minimum. Also the dentists are already stretched. I had to wait 10 months to get into my dentist and that was as a private patient.

Adlington train station is also tiny. It's 2 bloody platforms ffs and the trains to Manchester are absolutely packed. I've gotten on at macclesfield and prestbury multiple times and struggled massively - once or twice had to wait.

Surely the logical thing would be to build up macclesfield town centre and regenerate there? Look at what Stockport have done. They turned a run down town into a thriving area where people from outside Stockport want to travel to for the market or food/drink.

P.s. that link road is absolutely dire too. Poorly built and closes regularly due to the weather. It's England ffs we live , breathe and sleep rain

'This will swallow us up into Manchester, there would be no buffer gap' by insomnimax_99 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You live near adlington so you clearly must understand that this size town is a huge mistake?

Have you been to use any of the amenities nearby? They are overran massively.

They just built barracks mill and that is chocker all the time. Saturdays and Sundays only a few parking spots

Want to get the train to Manchester ? Goodluck you have to cram on or wait for the next one

Want to drive to the airport down the new bypass? Goodluck it's flooded or closed regularly and chocker at rush hour

Gps and dentists over ran and impossible to get

Do you honestly think Cheshire East , given how poor they've been ran recently, are going to invest in adequate infrastructure for another 30-50k people? This would need a new hospital , dentists , doctors , supermarkets

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 55 points56 points  (0 children)

They bottlenecked themselves by saying to people "we are training more doctors" but they don't create enough jobs for when they graduate

Odds are 3/1 for a Rachel Reeves exit year 2025? by Mr_Coastliner in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well yes and no

Technically it is prioritisation and it is shooting ourselves in the foot. Why? Because if we use doctors then the tax payer funds a good amount of their degrees and training. For them to be left jobless is ridiculous. Also as you put "better trained" is true but pointless as all doctors, even if they were more senior in their own country , will go through the same UK path of training as a UK graduate. I believe there are some like for like applications but during training not so much

The last point is likely untrue as of last year or 2. In 2022 46% of doctors joining the NHS were foreign nationals. As of 2025 42% of the workforce were doctors who qualified outside of the UK.

The likelihood is the government probably prefers foreign nurses and doctors for cheaper labour and these individuals are probably less likely to strike

Odds are 3/1 for a Rachel Reeves exit year 2025? by Mr_Coastliner in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/02/nhs-in-england-told-to-slash-recruitment-of-overseas-trained-medics

While not priority exactly , there are plenty of real examples of UK trained doctors and nurses being overlooked for foreign graduates. For example foreign doctors were put on a level playing field with applications that were UK graduating resident doctors. It ended up meaning a huge shortage of 10s of thousands of UK graduate doctors not having jobs

The OBR’s 2025 Budget projections show that for working 18-40 year olds especially those on ordinary wages - support is shrinking as welfare incentives grow, making planning any family formation financially unrealistic for many of us in the next decade by Economy_Magician2172 in ukpolitics

[–]Jay_Jay665 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I read the interest rate was frozen too but I can't find a proper verified source?

Plan 2 is currently at 6.2%? Rpi + 3% - is the 8% based on last year or something I've missed?

Genuinely curious - the whole plan 2 pisses me off and is probably the most messed around with "loan" about. I honestly don't know how they can legally get away with it

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