Is Labour failing? Why the Britannia Hotel Asylum Seekers may be fatal.

I had hoped, like many, that a change in government might mean we can worry less about what is happening, and we could trust the politicians to get the job done, but the Britannia Hotel Canary Wharf Asylum Seekers decision this week shows how out of touch they are. It makes me wonder if this is fatal. Or can they come back from it? 

Hotels For Seekers

I imagine that a global headline of London Canary Wharf hotel for asylum seekers sends the wrong message as a starting point.

Disgruntled tourists lose hotel rooms to asylum seekers also has been less than brilliant for our tourism industry. 

Londoners are wondering why prime real estate during a housing crisis is going to asylum seekers. Meanwhile, stretched borough services which locals struggle to access will now also have possibly 400 to 500 asylum seekers in one of the poorest London boroughs. 

The implications is that asylum seekers get a holiday in London in a central location that most Brits could not afford. 

Cost Of Living

We're still feeling the effects of a cost of living crisis. Hello! Open your eyes and see how much people are struggling. 

Londoners are forced to move to other cities, yet there is housing for asylum seekers. Clearly there is great frustration about the unfairness, of this, and the public paying for this whilst cuts to services continue. 

Services

The NHS staff , teachers and police aren't coping. Councils are pushed to do more with less. Both providers and users feel the grave injustice. Unemployment soars and those looking for work are finding it tough. Many who are employed also are trapped in toxic environments and faced with challenge after challenge. Charities are forced to make sad and tough choices too. 

The Impact On Locals

Locals with large numbers of asylum seekers tell of how it has impacted their communitues negatively. 

An article about the experience in Barbican in the city of London is disturbing. It details crime, businesses declining and a litany of negative effects. 

Where councils are trying to find the right balance, for example this recent article, suggest:

"The Park Hotel in Diss, Norfolk, said it is currently contracted to accommodate families only and has made clear to the Home Office that it “will have no alternative but to close” if that changes."

Asylum Seekers

The reality is that not all asylum seekers are going to cause problems. Some are genuinely going to be wonderful contributors eventually to our country. However, managing the processing of them is obviously highly flawed. 

The stories about treatment to asylum seekers sound like we are failing them too. We are a nation filled with compassion and decency. The Big Issue several years ago offers insight to the poor standards we have delivered. Similarly in Kilburn in a converted hostel, according to the Camden New Journal. 

Given Kilburn is in Brent, which has had significant increases in housing the homeless with concerning implications for the council budget, is the asylum seekers policy causing or adding to our council's fiscal problems? 

Mental Health

The biggest mental health crisis is upon us from a million different directions, and everyone is denying it exists. 

Waiting lists and barriers to access are beyond belief. The effects on employment, benefits, crime and other services are a recurring series of earthquakes. 

Meanwhile efficiency cuts to the NHS which supposedly won't impact patients will, and this pressure to save money, it is breaking the system. We were proud of what was built, and now so many are becoming disillusioned. 

The Prime Minister

It gives me no joy to write any of this. People are angry with our Prime Minister. They don't believe he is acting in their interests. He is seen as out of touch. No one is interested in hearing excuses any more. 

Scan social media. Listen to what they are saying on the streets. 

In a Victoria Derbyshire TikTok video, this comment had 3,000 likes: 

"I’m embarrassed to call myself British anymore, this government are a complete disgrace to all of us and it’s just getting worse day by day."

Britannia Hotel 

And that is before the Britannia story has taken off, which incidentally I wouldn't be surprised if this gains momentum and is a massive issue if they don't do a u turn.

More than 1,000 comments on this national paper's article, as local Facebook group posts grow. Anger and fear continue to spill onto the screens. Frustration is also prevalent for those who have family forced to move further away or who came through legal migration routes. 

Even on TikTok, @Krizz has in excess of 1 million views for a video on immigration. 4,000 people have commented. 

If the labour government are so inept to not see how bad all the optics of the Britannia Hotel asylum seekers decision is, then Labour deserve to lose the next election, not that I actually want any of the other alternatives, but sadly that seems like the direction we are heading towards. 

Kamala v Trump

It's Kamala v Trump, and the decision will impact us all. I'm not American, nor do I know enough to make an informed choice, even if I did have a vote. But this is a view from the outside from someone across the pond. 

If I was young

If I was a young American, the Roe v Wade would weigh heavily on my mind. Would I want to live in a country moving away from this freedom?  

We had options while I was growing up. I don't think I would have had an abortion, but certainly I can understand there may be circumstances where a woman, or couples might have decided it was the right thing for them. 

Maybe some people believe it is a better America with less rights and options, that they want to move away from a more libertarian country. 

Or is is about who is more entertaining? Who seems cooler or more popular? Or is it about who my friends and family vote for?

If I was old

If I was old, I would wonder about my life and how Trumps and Kamalas decisions will impact me and my family. 

Is a vote for Trump about his capability? Is it the idea that someone his age can still contribute and be President, that's why you support him? I guess I'd remember his The Apprentice days, his time in office, why he lost the last election and what happened after. 

Is a vote for Kamala about her race or gender, or am I biased against her because of those traits. How was she as VP?  When I was her age, what I knew and didn't know. How much energy did I have then? How well did I do my job? 

If I was a Trump supporter

If I was a Trump supporter, I would ask if there was anything he, his team or associates would say that might be too much? When does it become indefensible? Is it blind faith? Is it just media bias? 

Or am I supporting Trump because I don't want to vote for Kamala? Why don't I want to vote for her? Am I being too hard on her because she is a woman, or am I affected by her race? Was my life really better when Trump was President and did he make America great again? 

If I was a Kamala supporter

If I was a Kamala supporter, I would ask if she can deliver? Is she just relying on people not wanting Trump? What do I know about Trump because he served as President before? Does age matter and is Trump too old or Kamala too young? What do I really know about Kamala? We know Trump was about the wall. What is she about? Is she more than memes? 

On War

Can Trump really end the wars? We'd like to imagine it could be that simple. Maybe he has the power and can deliver. 

On Friends and Supporters

We might judge people on who are their friends and supporters. It might say alot about the sort of person they are. Elon Musk & Hulk Hogan v Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. 

Is this a project of fear? 

Perhaps. Certainly a change can offer hope, but could it be false hope? Would there really be change? Can any politician be trusted? Do I want to vote and at least know I tried to be a part of it all, and I did what I thought was best for my country. 

Neither Trump or Kamala can or will be perfect. They are the options. Is it about the lesser of two evils or the one we feel offers more hope, or a bit of both, or a balancing out of the overall, or any one particular issue or act which affects my decision? 

After 5 November 2024, will it be President Kamala or Presudent Trump? 

Why Is The Cost Of Living Mortgage Support Only 6 Months?

Money is one of our biggest stresses. It can make us feel ill, impact our mental health, affect relationships, reduce our quality of life, increase crime, compromise our values and diminish our contribution to society. 

When you've worked hard all your life, and the government caused our hardship - I blame Truss and Kwateng for the price we've had to pay - I wonder why only 6 months is available to alleviate what is going to be falling off a cliff edge. 

You're only given a short rope to climb out of a deep hole. The thing is you're not looking for a free ride, you'll still pay off your mortgage, but all your savings are being taken away, the banks are making billions, the politicians have all their perks, second jobs and blame everyone else. It's a cash flow issue. 

18 or 24 months of being pushed to breaking point is no way to live. This is a country which favours the rich and lives off the back of the poor. That is the image perpetuated now. 

You're basically fed up. It's a system that lacks any kind of reasonableness and continues to erode trust in government. 

No one calls out this system. No main stream media tackles the heart of the problem. It is a broken country we live in. Capitalism and democracy are failing, not that the alternatives are better. 

Interest rates are killing us. Their killing small businesses, everyday people and economies. The rich are getting richer but in the long term it will be to the detriment of all. 

There is a helplessness. I see it everywhere - online and in real life. This video from BBC question time from last year gives you a sense of it. 

Where is the vision, sensibility and humanity? Where are the great leaders? Where is the world going and what can we do about it?

High Interest Rates Are The Wrong Mechanism For The UK's Inflation

Today's inflation figures are welcome, but is has become increasingly clear to me that high interest rates have been the wrong choice. 

Interest rates are an outdated and class driven way of impacting inflation. It first hits the working class, then the middle classes. This reflects a society that is failing to evolve & truly want social mobility.

Public perception is that we have a government that has had little interest in the people of this country. People are poorer. Compared to other countries, the UK is uncompetitive & failing in too many areas.

People are angry. Not enough is being done as people are losing their life savings. This has been so poorly managed.  Wealth is being transferred to banks. 

Bumper profits have been announced by some companies. This is not good or responsible corporate citizenship. There should  be a tax on benefiting from the suffering of others. How can we call ourselves human and humane if we perpetuate unethical behaviour and we don't speak out about it? 

Forcing interest rates to these ridiculous levels is short sighted in any event. It will force the UK into a massive recession which will ultimately harm corporates & the wealthy. It discourages anyone investing significantly in the UK.

Why was the solution to increase costs via interest rates to manage inflation rather than bring in cheaper imports to force prices down? We live in a global competitive world, but we are using old measures to deal with statistics created by a patriarchal hierarchical system.

If the point is to reduce the labour market, aren't there more direct measures rather than interest rates?  Interest rates are about slowing things down & causing pain. It's a choice who is impacted by economic measures. 

A fairer way would have been taxes  strategically raised in certain areas or a voluntary tax is paid by the wealthy and those businesses who have profited in good times and bad. 

We need creative out of the box measures. The attack on the arts is another misguided politically poor decision, but more on that another time. 

If you are struggling with interest rates & the cost of living, the only real option seems to be to vote against a government which is failing. 

Banks are not making it easy to:

• switch to interest only
• not be penalised by temporarily going variable to ride out the high rates
• offeeing competitive deals - most deals are at 2 years or 5 years - no longer 1 year. 

Instead, they are leading with notices that your home may be repossessed. 

Britain is at breaking point and ineffective leadership has been at the heart of it. It will ultimately result in British businesses & people falling behind the rest of the world. 

We need to look at the big picture and sadly high interest rates have been used in the worst possible way which will cause the least desirable outcomes for all of us. 

Watch:

• "It’s not a cost of living crisis…it’s a cost of Conservatives greed crisis”

Read:

• Inflation falls to 7.9% in bigger than expected drop
• There’s only one way to tackle Britain’s mortgage meltdown – get the banks to cough up
• Bank profits poised to top £40 billion while UK economy struggles
• Mortgage cost rises: how other countries compare with the UK
  
• Inflation is causing real pain. But raising interest rates will make it worse

The Little Annoyances That Keep Us Awake

The 1 step backwards to see the 100 steps you've taken forward - the glass is never full. There's should have, could have, would have. 

So tonight I did the right thing and showed compassion & sensitivity. I have mixed feelings about the situation because it has made me doubt my way forward. 

Did I make a mistake? Perhaps. But then we all make mistakes. It's not the end of the world. It just means we learn hopefully from it, and are wiser in our decisions going forward. 

So the story is that I agreed something with someone. After doing it, they rescinded on the agreement. Fortunately it wasn't a huge amount of work, but still it was a precious few hours I could have spent on something else. I guess it makes a great anecdote to tell, one day. 

It was essentially a goodwill job for no payment. Honestly, why I do these, I don't know. It really isn't worth it. 

I guess I can't help but feel annoyed, naturally so. I won't make a big deal out of it. That's not my style. Does it make me weak? Is it frustrating trying to be a good person and not telling them this isn't ideal? 

The thing is, now I think that I no longer can move forward with other agreements I've made, as I've set the precedent they can rescind too. It's just become a waste of my time.

What are the positive?

1. It could have been worse.

2. I haven't really lost anything significant. 

3. Now I know agreements with this person are no longer credible. 

It confirms my hesitancy to move into this type of work. I took a risk and it didn't pay off today, but it is a useful example of what I can do. 

The reality is that the world is moving faster than many people are prepared for. They aren't able to cope with these changes. It's OK. I guess for my own sanity, I need to be aware of this as it can result in time wasting. I understand their point of view. It doesn't make me feel better though. As well, I can't sleep now because of it, which is even more annoying. 

I just needed to vent. I have to let it out, send it out and make my peace with it. Now back to trying to go to sleep.