No she didn't. Wrong one mate. Jacqui Smith (Labour HS) did and rightly so. It is not down to the home secretary as an individual anyway. It is a cross party decision. [en.m.wikipedia.org]

Oh hey...you stay away lad...thats cool. More beer for us

You don't remember that Theresa May was Home Secretary before she became PM? Maybe take some vitamins.

@doug6352 I remember but no American was banned under her watch. Had she though, for the right reasons, I would respect that.

Groan

There wasn't a meltdown, just a few yobs on an unusually hot bank holiday

World is ending chicken...don't worry we'll be raptured off

Not too different when applied to America. um

@silverotter11 any country really

I don't think many British people are genuinely racist, otherwise we wouldn't have been so quick to fall in love with so many things immigrants brought us (where would we be without reggae, soul, curry, Chinese food, bagels, cannabis culture, hummus and even fish and chips?), but a large number of us have been persuaded to harbour negative feelings about immigration by the right-wing press, and that situation has been encouraged by successive governments because it suits them to let people think Mr. Abdul and his family down the road are the reason the NHS and other services are struggling rather than admitting it's their own gross mismanagement and self-serving policies.

@Jnei Absolutey...divide and conquer

@Jnei but there is a class fixation. Which I think morphed into true racism in the American south. IMO

@silverotter11 Definitely, yes - we certainly haven't got rid of the class fixation yet.

I am not sure I agree with your post but I do like being shoved in with young to middle aged people

@beansontoast
It's always been this way since the dawn of time. The masses are not intellectuals. I'm talking globally however there are some countries which believe in uplifting the intellect of all their citizens, they're just the minority in this case.

As for studying at a much more expensive and pretentious university? No, Loughborough may be full of players, sluts and drunks among the younger students. But it's generally a good university for my course. My school score was good enough to get into Cambridge but I wanted a balanced university experience. Study and socializing.

The majority of people don't want to ask the big questions or discuss complex ideas. It's just the way things are. Most people are unquestioning, gullible and easily led. Only a handful of people have the ability to be strong enough to stand out as individuals.

@beansontoast, @Amisja
There's nothing wrong with not wanting to talk about complex issues or other intellectual topics. This website is a good example.

Many people I've talked to have been overwhelmed by how basic and simple minded many people on this site are. That's just normal, the average intelligence of people.

Seriously mate you are a snob! Who gives a flying fuk what uni you went to?? I went to
Bolton Institute of higher learning
Chinese uni of Hong Kong
John Moores
Lancaster
Huddersfield
And UCLAN where I teach.
Only Lancaster ever saw anything like a Russell group but I still got the quals! 'Drunkards and sluts' oh dear

@Amisja
So you're saying that I, a student who came from a working class family and want's to study hard to get a high level degree so he can support his family is a snob?

And that people running around campus, drinking, breaking bottles, smearing food on windows, damaging property, stealing peoples property, etc. are just like me? Kids who don't go to lectures, who cheat on tests, copy coursework, etc. That's fine?

I'm not a snob. I don't go screaming and shouting trying to wake people up at 2:00 am.

Seriously, you need to realize that the majority of people aren't worth the money they pay for their degrees.

I've met regular working class people who are much more responsible, respectful and intelligent than most of the people I've seen and met in University in the UK.

Intelligence doesn't make someone a snob. Wanting to learn more and improve yourself is NOT a bad thing.

@beansontoast hahaha

@beansontoast Indeed but he's Aussie so probably in bed...oh hum

@Amisja
Chill mate. I'm a civilised intellectual, unlike some people around me.

@Lancer What does that even mean?

@Amisja
It means I don't let my emotions get in the way of objectively stating the facts.

I also don't go insulting strangers like some petulant child.

@Lancer But you just did

@Amisja
Well I used facts. I can see how they could be misunderstood as emotions.

@Lancer Ok look you attempted to insult me or Mr. Toast.

@Amisja
When? I never accused you of anything.

@Lancer eeuuwww go and along and play we are bored by you

@Amisja
I understand you are trying to be provocative and patronizing. Such childish tactics won't work on me, I don't have time to waste on someone who is behaving like a child.

@Lancer ok enough now. You are saying you don't resort to name calling then clearly do.

@Amisja "behaving" like a child. I never said you were a child. I was very precise with my words.

@Lancer bye

@Lancer @beansontoast

"My school score was good enough to get into Cambridge but I wanted a balanced university experience." Uh-huh.

IF Cambridge had accepted you with your spelling, punctuation, and grammar deficiencies, I would be sorely disappointed with how far standards have fallen at that world-class institution.

At 19, you know a remarkable amount about human intellect since "the dawn of time." It's comical. Do check back in when you grow up.

@hemingwaykitten
There is no institution on Earth where the students never make grammatical errors. If there is I'd really like to know where this perfect university campus is. Your statement is illogical as it assumes there is a university that only accepts perfect human beings, this is not true.

All I've said is political correctness has gone too far and also that the quality of students in university isn't the best. This is true for all universities, yes they will have different proportions of intelligent and less intelligent students, that's life. But what I'm saying is students are more concerned with when their next night out is rather than studying for their tests and exams.

[independent.co.uk]

Also I don't want to have to point this out but "since the dawn of time" is just a saying, it's not meant to be taken literally.

There is nothing wrong with what I've said. It's just the reality that the UK universities are becoming too politically correct. This will cause long term damage to both the universities and students.

A good example is my university. There is an anti-fossil fuel group of extremists who constantly litter the campus with posters, splash paint on statues and deface the pavement with chalk messages. They want the university to divest from fossil fuel companies, without the slightest clue as to what this will do. They hate fossil fuel companies however the fossil fuel companies are funding research which will lead to more efficient wind turbines, solar panels, oil producing algae, etc. Without the investments these green alternative research projects will be shut down. Meaning it will take even longer for breakthroughs in efficiency, different processes, etc. These children are idiots, the problem is, 10 universities in the UK submitted to the demands of like minded eco-extremists. They are what's going to destroy the Earth, not save it. They are hypocrites.

@Lancer

Damn. Did the Tories adopt you at birth or did you go willingly?

@hemingwaykitten
I don't align myself with any of the UK political parties. I barely like the Australian ones.
I just dislike it when we allow malformed minds to influence the decisions that will affect hundreds of thousands of engineering students and slow the progress of environmentally conservative alternative energy research.

Think of it this way. Say you have a family with 3 kids. If we ask "what would everyone like for dinner" and the 3 kids decide they don't want vegetables but do want cake then by democratic vote you will have cake. Despite the fact that they will be obese by the time they're 10 if that type of activity continued. This is ludicrous.

I don't believe that everyone should be allowed to vote, only people who have been trained to think critically and logically should be able to vote. i.e. responsible people.

VLove eh?

I think to be honest here in UK no one gives a f. Not unless you get robbed in the street and then they go mad because the CCTV wasn't working. The technology is crummy and they are not generally supervised. British people are generally very apathetic about most things. I doubt very much CCTV is having any effect on free speech. In fact there are NO restrictions on free speech. The people complaining are those wishing to have the freedom to hate.

@Amisja Agreed. While we do have a lot of CCTV, it's not especially invasive and so people generally aren't too bothered about it. As for never talking about religion and politics, most people in Britain genuinely don't care about religion - but we certainly do talk about politics!

@Amisja CCTV. What's that? And how pervasive?

@Amisja, @beansontoast what's GDPR?

@Jnei, @beansontoast I read about that

@GodDelusion
Closed-circuit television

@Jnei In Kenya I had a German friend and when he held a party in his house (usually 8 to 10 people), if the conversation turned to religion there was no problem, but if it even started to be aboult politics, he would walk over to a framed picture on his wall, and flip it over. Ther, on the back, was a large black Swastika. He would then ask, "Are we talking politics. May I express my views?" before flipping the picture back. It always worked!!

I think the ordinary, struggling Brits are so fed up with their government - they've kind of given up. Possibly de-sensitised.

As noted in the article you posted this predates Trump by years. The UK leadership are determined to stifle any opposition to their multicultural insanity. Apparently the UK wants to be another Sweden.

@beansontoast Christ in a sidecar, I was there last year. They have no idea what they are doing. And it's on an accelerated timeframe. The European Union is not sympathetic, and really, you can't blame them. The UK voted to leave; so they need to leave.

Talk about buyer's regret.

@Palindromeman No no no. The British people were sold a half story and a lot of lies most probably manipulated by Cambridge Analytica (spit!) The Welsh and Scottish Brothers and Sisters voted remain as did the young (who it will really affect). Its a huge ugly daft mess and at the core of it...racism.

@Amisja Absolutely copy that. But the majority of the UK public who voted (I hate voluntary voting) they voted YES.

The big question now is whether the United Kingdom can remain united.

Yes, it is a dreadful, divisive ugly mess.

@Palindromeman @Amisja I think a significant amount of people have since changed their minds, in many cases because they didn't really know what they were voting for - prior to the referendum, when I heard people saying they hated the EU and were going to vote to leave, I started asking them what the EU actually is and a lot suddenly realised they had no idea, knowing little more than something they read in the tabloids once about how we'd have to have straight bananas and Brussels sprouts couldn't be called Brussels sprouts unless they were from Brussels.

With so much media coverage, a lot of those people are now far better informed and could vote for or against according to what they truly believe; for that reason, if we were to have a second referendum I would accept the result even if it wasn't the result I would hope for. I'm not sure comparing Brexit to making a purchase really works as they're very different things; however, if one buys something from a shop and finds it's not fit for purpose, the buyer has the legal right to change their mind and return it - I feel that applies here, too.

@Jnei Ugh. I know. I spent almost three months in the second half of last year staying with my brother in London. The divide is clear - London knew leaving was the wrong choice. The problem was ultimately turn out. And I guess that's where my buyers regret metaphor comes in - too many people didn't think the referendum would go YES rather than NO.

And now the UK is stuck with it.

@Jnei, @beansontoast You make an excellent point, and this is the key thing - the UK government went to the people and asked "do you want to leave the European Union?". And a majority of people who could be arsed turned up and said "yes, we want to leave."

At which point the UK government said "holy shit, what do we do now?"

Which is where we are.

@Jnei Yes...straight bananas, pounds shillings and pence, blue passports and brown people...I'm so proud to be british (deep sarcasm)

@Amisja I know, right? I grew up in the state of Queensland in Australia. It's north. We're called banana benders, because we're all stupid.

Oh prejudice. I love you. Can I take you into this dark alley for just a minute...

@Jnei Absolutely and given what we now kn9w there is a good case for that

@Amisja Ugh. And I thought Children of Men was just fiction:

@beansontoast I voted remain, I literally do not know even one single Brexiteer (unless they are all lying)

Jnei it was on twitter with that vile female (can't bring myself to say her name) about 1k marched for the right to say they hate brown people

@Amisja Those arseholes gave up their right to free speech by advocating that anyone who opposes them shouldn't have the same right!

@Amisja Mate, this is just going from bad to worse. And you are right; it's all about racism.

@Jnei exactly!

@beansontoast TR was thrown off twitter for his racist statements, The BF darlings were both imprisoned. This mass mindless mob of beer swilling bald headed louts marched for the right to say they hate brown people. At one point as a mass they shouted 'peado' over and over at a rather well turned out articulate young asian man who never once retaliated. Basically they just wanted a BH scrap, to drink stella and shout how much they love their cuntry