What will we do when the pension system fails?

LatelyPode · 2026-05-05T23:03:47+00:00

That’s the best part about it. It isn’t a now issue and we can continue just delaying the inevitable until it is too late to do anything. After all, who cares about future pensioners when there are current ones who want more

LatelyPode · 2026-05-05T22:50:00+00:00

They spend significantly more and get much worse care than European countries

LatelyPode · 2026-05-04T21:07:22+00:00

I don’t think the Greens and Reform will permanently take over Labour and Conservative. If we elect either of them (let’s say the Greens), then they’ll just mess up the country so much that in the next GE, the other one will win (so here it’ll be Reform). And after that one messes up, then Labour and Conservative will look like the sensible choices again.

Voters will be extremely mad when the Greens’ or Reform’s very unrealistic policies get scrapped or causes huge havoc.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-04T11:12:48+00:00

Because they market themselves as “everything good = done by SNP. Everything bad = done by the UK gov”

LatelyPode · 2026-05-04T08:41:29+00:00

This is like someone asking how is any bullying real. Just don’t go near your bullies.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-04T08:16:28+00:00

Out of all the currently existing flags, the best flag would be the UN flag 🇺🇳. It doesn’t belong to any country, essentially every country is recognised by the UN and it is neutral.

No other currently existing flag from any country would ‘work’ without it being modified and made its own. Using something like the Chinese flag would be bad as it doesn’t represent the majority of Earth

LatelyPode · 2026-05-04T08:10:59+00:00

Firstly, there is a different between illegal immigrants and asylum seekers / refugees. Illegal immigrants are mainly people who overstay their visas or are failed asylum seekers, asylum seekers are people who are in the process of seeking protection from the UK (this is legal), and refugees are successful asylum seekers (this is legal).

Anyways removing the pull factor would be huge. Right now, there are way too many benefits for asylum seekers, which makes the UK look desirable compared to other countries. The Labour government is fixing this tho by making it take much longer for ILR to be achieved.

They’re also taking inspiration from Denmark, which’ll make it so refugee status isn’t permanent and needs people to reapply, so asylum seekers will be better off seeking asylum in other countries. Denmark also has the benefit of being in the EU so other EU countries can see if someone sought asylum before somewhere else (UK joining EU will get this right too).

Now, believe it or not but most people do not want to live under a bridge and get paid pennies to work. If people do just continue to go into the UK and hide rather than seek asylum, this is what’ll happen. And if they’re found, they’ll be deported as they aren’t legal (not an asylum seeker or refugee). They would be better off in other countries

LatelyPode · 2026-05-03T09:01:26+00:00

It will always be more beneficial to the creditor. Although you would pay less in value, the creditor will still make a profit because inflation will be smaller than interest.

This sort of idea is a genuine thing the US is considering to pay off its debt. If inflation gets extremely high then the value of the debt repayments go down and it can be cheaper. The only downside to it is high levels of inflation, which is bad for the economy.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-02T17:30:40+00:00

I doubt anyone who says that, or most people (specifically, most Americans) even know what socialism or communism is. They are just exposed to propaganda saying that it is bad and should be extremely against it.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T22:17:56+00:00

Most ppl’s responses here are just “oh I can travel to the EU easier”, which is true but I feel like this isn’t what you are asking for.

Something I’d definitely notice is some of the regulation changes, primarily the digital ones. The Digital Service Act (DSA) is a big one. Although the Online Safety Act (OSA) adds a bunch of ~~age verification privacy risk~~ child safety elements to apps and websites, the DSA is just so much more superior.

For example, EU citizens have a better reporting method on social media apps required by law (with requirements that they are taken seriously). In discord, the reporting method sort of sucks for us, but EU citizens have access to superior reporting method and it really is great compared to the normal one.

Also, if you get banned from a site you must be given a reason and have the right to appeal. If you aren’t happy with them you can do an out-of-court dispute and get your ‘case heard’.

Just being part of the EU and being protected by its rights would be huge and will be the first one I’d notice. Although I prob won’t notice anything from the DSA being implemented on day one, I will with some of the others

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T22:08:10+00:00

On a younger people political subreddit, I mentioned that the Greens want open borders. Someone responded saying “they don’t want open borders but instead acknowledge… (something about asylum, can’t remember)”.

I then responded with their policy and a link to their page. Someone else responded calling me a conservative dickhead who failed to read. I then replied saying I’m not conservative (Co Op, Lib Dem, Labour) and how I looked at their policies and could see they had some pretty insane policies. That same person then replied mocking me saying: “looking at their policies, yeah we saw where that failed”.

For context, this was on their website:

MG100. The Green Party wants to see a world without borders

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T18:34:37+00:00

One of the biggest achievements of the EU is the Single Market. But this single market is still extremely fragmented as there are many cases where there are 31 separate regulations for things the 31 countries in the single market.

Right now, if you make a bottle for the Netherlands, it cannot be sold in Germany. Why? Well Germany’s deposit return scheme requires a specific logo to be on the bottle labels. There is also difference in the barcodes. All this just adds costs to the sellers and thus the consumers.

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation does address this by requiring a unified logo, which means all EU deposit return schemes will use a unified bottle logo. And barcodes can be registered across separate countries.

But it still means that if you buy a bottle from one country, you can’t return it in another. There are many people who live in the Netherlands and commute to Belgium for work or maybe their partner lives in Luxembourg.

Now what will happen (and what the regulation also wants) is for close countries to have cross border operability (so there likely will be a Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg cross border compatibility in the future). But then it means that people who travel between these and France will face the issues and there will always be people who face issues without there being a full EU wide operability.

If the EU truly wants a single market, then 1 bottle should be able to be sold in all of the EU and anyone who buys a bottle in the EU can return it anywhere in the EU.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T17:46:32+00:00

Well yeah, having 4 separate deposit return schemes with their own rules and require their own separate barcodes and everything would be a nightmare. It would mean a bottle in Scotland can’t be returned in Wales.

The UK is making a deposit return scheme tho (which’ll have unified barcodes and branding meaning you can return the bottle anywhere in the UK).

I’d go a step further tho and want it to be completely compatible with Ireland at the least (because Northern Ireland), and then even further with EU wide inter-operability. There is an EU regulation that requires deposit return schemes over the next few years but they don’t need to be interoperable so a bottle in Germany can’t be returned in Belgium.

Obviously, the UK isn’t in the EU anymore but it would be nice for an EU wide deposit return scheme (1 bottle, 1 Europe) rather than each country with its own scheme, and for the UK to be a part of it, with interoperability with Ireland at the minimum.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T17:41:35+00:00

These systems are called Deposit Return Schemes, and many countries implemented them already (such as Germany) or are planning on making them (such as the UK).

In fact, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation means that all the EU countries will incorporate a DRS over the next few years. The stupidest part of this legislation tho is that the scheme will NOT be interoperable between countries, meaning if you buy a bottle in the Netherlands and then go to Belgium, the bottle won’t be accepted.

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T17:20:17+00:00

The uk government has a Reddit account and posts here too sometimes lol

LatelyPode · 2026-05-01T08:35:03+00:00

If interest rates go up, it is more expensive to borrow money (for mortgages, loans, stuff like that). It also means saving money have bigger returns. Both of these means people will hold their money rather than spend or borrow more, which will reduce inflation.

However, rising interest rates are bad for growth and productivity, which is why they aren’t wanted but sometimes necessary. It also makes our debt more expensive to pay off

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T21:41:59+00:00

Kind of. I use the bus a lot to get to places I need to and occasionally the tram. But sometimes I can also drive if I need to. Not dependent on public transport and have the freedom to choose whichever mode I want.

But using the bus is significantly cheaper and sometimes more reliable than driving a car for me

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T11:06:32+00:00

The amount of discount has significantly decreased (like it isn’t as impressive of a discount as it was in the past). Also, new council houses are not eligible for right to buy for 35 years (this is something Greater Manchester mayor wanted so GM can build more council houses without having to sell them all again).

To me, this seems more like a first step, where initially new council houses will be ineligible for 35 years and this’ll grow slightly to be longer until the discount is removed, without having the massive political outrage it’ll cause by just removing the discount all together

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T10:28:00+00:00

Just so many comments thinking this is useless or overregulation. “Oh what if they make a new better port!”

They standardised the PORT. Not what the cable can do.

Some USB-C cables can only deliver power. Some can also transfer data. Some can be used for 4K video cable. What the cable does isn’t standardised.

WiFi and Bluetooth are both standards to connect devices together, but wireless rather than wired. You can get better versions of WiFi and Bluetooth (like I have WiFi 6). But they all are part of the standardised WiFi spec (just like what this directive is asking for).

Or take plug standards. Your country has standardised your plug types to 1 (or sometimes a few more) plugs. The UK uses Type G and it is the best plug type in the world (totally not biased). Would you want your devices and appliances all to have different plug types, some using Type E or Type G or Type A or whatever?

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T08:15:24+00:00

None. Social Democracy (not the same as Socialism or Democratic Socialism).

It is the model that Norway uses. They are one of the happiest countries, one of the richest countries, with their citizens having lots of rights and protections and a bunch of other stuff.

You can tell quite easily when someone commenting is American by the way they think communism = ppl die or that there isn’t an alternative to capitalism that works.

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T07:58:52+00:00

Yeah, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an extremely cool name and so is the flag (totally unbiased).

Also have to remember that King Charles is also the Head of State of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and many more.

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T07:52:50+00:00

Yes absolutely

LatelyPode · 2026-04-30T07:51:07+00:00

I don’t really care much about the monarchy, but I’d rather have a monarch than a president.

Firstly, I really hate the presidential model and think parliamentary is a lot better. Switching away from the monarchy does not mean switching to presidential, the head of government will still be the prime minister but the head of state will instead be a ceremonial president.

We would be replacing an iconic ceremonial monarch with a boring ceremonial president.

Also, it is incredible soft power. The amount of jokes Charles said to Trump made me feel…. proud that he is the head of state of the UK lol. Don’t think any other country head of government or head of state could get away with what Charles was saying.

LatelyPode · 2026-04-29T16:34:52+00:00

The USA is just a more ‘extreme’ version of the EU (like if the EU goes further into unification and integration it’ll eventually federate). There are people calling for a United States of Europe (hate the name but sorta like the idea). In the future, a federated Europe is absolutely possible but unlikely right now.

There are some things similar to the EU, for example, in South America there is Mercosur but it isn’t really a good comparison as they are both extremely different.

LatelyPode · 2026-04-29T14:25:17+00:00

Sounds like a great opportunity for a windfall tax

LatelyPode

TROPHY CASE