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Can I give that an equivocal response rather than a like?
The courts in Ireland have said that the UK is not a safe place, and people are seeking asylum in Ireland because they donât feel safe in the UK. Helen McEnteee didnât actually say, and doesnât actually know where 80% of refugees are coming from.
Itâs complex and I really, really donât want to offer succour to the EnglishConservative party, but I want even less to be a place that refuses refugees when they are oppressed. Itâs just more important to me.
Iâm not that well versed on how the courts may react to this but I donât see an immediate constitutional grounds for appeal. Could be way wrong. But courts avoid interfering in politics in general. Itâs a fairly high bar to clear for the elected government to be overruled.
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Oddly enough⊠come the EU elections in June, I will be in charge of a polling station.1)
In Germany. Where everybody and their dog has an ID card. Because thatâs how we roll.
And when a constituent comes to the polling station to vote, and if they are in the right polling station, i.e. their name is on the list, and I know them - then, per the electoral law(s),2) I do not need to see their ID card.
1) Thatâs not the odd bit, Iâve been doing that in every election on every level since 2001.
2) Thereâs a separate law for the different types of elections (local, state, federal, EU,
plebiscites) each.
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More MPs are currently under investigation than people were found guilty of illegal voting at the last election.
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Yep. When people bring up voter ID, I mention living in Germany and how itâs absolutely 100% normal to carry ID every time you step out of your home. Everyone has ID, and the government makes sure of it. This is surprising to a lot of people whoâve never been to Germany. Weirdly, some of them support voter ID.
The idea that youâd have to carry official ID to vote, but the government doesnât make sure everyone has ID, is at best half-arsed and at worst downright suspicious. And I donât give the people pushing for Voter ID the benefit of âhalf-arsedâ doubt.
At first I thought âSo ad hoc, nicht so Deutschâ. Then I realized the conditions under which visual sighting of ID would not be required would be very precisely described in full-on Amt-Deutsch, and my mind is at ease. 
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It comes down to just three words, von Angesicht bekannt (known by sight).
Tangent:
Somehow I messed up keeping track of dates of expiry at one point, 15 years or so ago. The long and the short of it is that I didnât have a valid ID card for 4 years / passport for 5 years and only noticed it by accident when I bought a new wallet. Not a single problem during the whole time, and that includes travel to/through several EU countries each year (although not by plane, though).
What I find a bit funny in the context of âID cards are issued by Big Brother!â is that the UK uses a sytem of postcodes which is so granular that it can pinpoint somebodyâs abode down to a specific part/side of the street itâs in.
But then again I used to know people who agitated against the computerised census in the 1980ies<sup<1) with hot passion - and started posting every intimate detail of their lives online the minute social media became a thing.
1) Herman Hollerith in the 1880ies, anyone?
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A bad night for the Conservatives
The party has so far lost around half the seats it is defending, losing 122 seats and control of three councils, increasing internal pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
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Regarding voter ID in the UK, you have to understand that this is another authoritarian ploy (amongst many for this gov) right out of the Tory handbook to shore up their older vote and disenfranchise those who are less likely to have photo ID - the poor and the young (guess who are less likely to vote Tory?) The narrative they wish to push that it prevents voter fraud stinks of the bullshit everyone knows it is.
Overview
In the past 5 years, there is no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud.
Of the 1,462 cases of alleged electoral fraud reported to police between 2019 and 2023, 10 led to convictions and the police issued 4 cautions.
Most cases either resulted in the police taking no further action or were locally resolved by the police issuing words of advice.
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Germany doesnât have the dangerous combination of an unwritten constitution and the Home Office. The UK is a country where the ruling party routinely talks about leaving the ECHR and where the Home Office has a long history of seeking crushing powers over citizens.
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bugger
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30% of eligible voters?
Thatâs the more damning verdict there.
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Over a 16% swing against the Tories and they still have over half the vote. This one was always going to be a struggle, especially as the incumbent tried to distance himself from the national party.
More generally, it looks like theyâre losing about half the council seats that theyâre defending.
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He is presiding over Rishiâs pet freeport project and making himself and his pals a huuuge amount of gravy from the taxpayers, reeks of corruption and prolonged investigations.
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Fucking Ben Houchen!
See any issue of Private Eye for the past two or three years for the lowdown on this cheating, freeloading scumbag.
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True, but that still hasnât stopped him from campaigning almost as if heâs an independent. Party name well hidden on all the campaign materials.
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So was Susan Hallâs and her running mate.
You might think they have something to hide, but I am sure it was just lack of space.
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Yeah, well, Iâm not sure Houchen will continue to be so insouciant once the NAO start giving the Teeside deals a proper going-over. But alas that is going to take time, and heâs already managed to get his sinecure in the House of Lords (how?!) which means that he wonât have to worry about playing party games like the rest of them.
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I felt really bad about not voting Binface this time around. I mean, I was perfectly aware that Khan wasnât in any sort of trouble (despite hilarious rumours) but the problem with FPTP is that you have to vote to keep the Tory out.
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