Category: Geography

Do we fact check enough? I was talking in the shop and pointed out that the number of people crossing into the UK was 25000. (fact check it was 36000 in 2024 and higher this year), My colleague then said “per day” and he was serious! The publicity has distorted reality by that much. My colleague is not right wing, and would classify him as reasonably intelligent but also someone who does not follow the news. He was shocked when I said per year, genuinely shocked! Also of the 36000 about 5000 (mostly from Albania) were returned and with about 68% granted asylum. they were mostly from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, and Eritrea. 73 people died attempting the crossing.

International asylum law, primarily established by the 1951 Refugee Convention, protects individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries. It grants the right to seek asylum in another country and outlines the responsibilities of states towards refugees. Key aspects include the principle of non-refoulement, ensuring that refugees are not returned to places where they face persecution.  It is not true that they must seek asylum in the first country they visit. France in 2023 had about 167000 asylum seekers whilst the UK had 67000 in total. Asylum seekers in the UK typically receive £49.18 per week for each person in self-catered accommodation to cover essential living needs like food, toiletries, and clothing.If they are in catered accommodation (where meals are provided), they receive £8.86 per week

The latest scam by Reform is to highlight the number of illegal immigrants (those staying without permission. Obviously this number is unknown so there is a difficulty fact checking and it allows the hateful to elaborate and exaggerate. What we do know is that the last government were abject in this area, like most others. Hence this government suggesting a ID Card. Estimates put us as second only to Germany in the numbers of unregistered migrants. There seems to be some grey area here, in theory a 20 year residence in this country gives a permanent residence permission – but stories of the Windrush Generation and deportations by the Home Office vary with this interpretation! I am not sure about ID cards – they have them across most of Europe but I really do not have the info!

Statistics Showing the Impact of Immigrants on the UK Economy and Society. The economic and societal impacts of immigration in the UK are significant. According to the Office for National Statistics, migrants contribute approximately £83 billion to the UK’s economic output annually.

It is impossible to know the exact number of illegal migrants in the UK because some people successfully evade border controls and remain undetected, while others enter legally but their status becomes irregular later on. However, estimates suggest there are between 417,000 and 863,000 irregular migrants in the UK, including UK-born children.  farless than the figures quoted by Reform and Farage (the source of these stats admit that they are flawed!)

So these are the facts as provided by respected authorities.

PS. I just put inials on apples so that they rippen with my grandchildrens inials embedded in the skins as the ripen.n

Why now? The BBC website has 2 major articles about China – both vaguely hostile. The first was about Chinese plans for a new embassy. I am sure that all the embassies of major countries are riddled with spying equipment – even the so called friendly ones – all will have their spy networks. So the article seemed rather hostile. China is far from a beacon of democracy but more later. The second article was about Chinese students at Uni in the UK being asked to spy on fellow students. The article went further to state that university lecturers were being ‘encouraged’ to avoid certain topics.

Both these articles have elements of truth – China is bit of a mystery to most of us. When young in 1950’s my dad sowed the seeds of nightmares by saying that there were so many Chinese that if we went to war with them ‘they would just over run us’. As a geographer I know a bit about China, and a little of its history. But basically I am ignorant about it and try to avoid imposing my own beliefs when hearing about China. I am aware that China has been more than nasty regarding  alleged ethnic cleansing in China’s Xinjiang region. Hong Kong has also raised questions regarding western style democracy. Tibet is another issue, although huge investments in infrastructure have been made. The big issue is Taiwan. Here Trump needs to be very careful in withdrawing the US from its world power.

China is also used as an excuse for not pursuing green energy projects. Yet China has an indisputable lead in installation of renewable energy – and yes it has a lot of coal power stations. China  Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below $1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line as defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by close to 800 million. That is fucking amazing! Maybe we should be pushing Chairman Xi for a Nobel Peace Prize?

In the realms of fairness as I have mentioned a lot of negatives about China. The USA is attempting to defund universities that have criticised Trump. ICE is arresting and deporting citizens born in the USA (with glee). In the UK an 80 year old woman was arrested and her house searched for – holding a Palestinian flag and a banner stating that Israel should stop killing Palestinians.

Can I make a philosophical comment here? And I have thought it through so it may be open to much criticism. “A nation should not be judged on its successes, but how it handles its failures”. I was thinking about the Windrush generations, Hillsborough, Grenville Tower, miners riots under Thatcher, bean field debacle, PollTax riots. Our recent history of dealing with civil disobedience and dissention is not great.

So Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez thought their wealth would enable them to “hire” Venice. The obscenity of their extravagant display of wealth was however no match for locals who threatened to flood the canals with plastic crocodiles!. However there are a reported 95 private planes flying in for the wedding. The cost is gross, and did Ms Sanchez’s space flight count as a bachelorette party? Venice is blighted by too much tourism anyway – cruise ships over 25000 tonnes have already been banned due to the congestion and pollution cased.

Unrest is spreading across the Mediterranean Region. House prices have risen by double in some cities. But wages are low in tourism, locals are forced to leave as properties are bought up to turn into Airbnb and apartments. Tourists flock from Northern European countries and movements to restrict these migrants are growing in momentum, despite the jobs they bring. Even some areas of the UK are imposing surcharges on holiday stay overs. Councils have the right to increase council tax on second homes.

So this has become a difficult problem. The right to holiday away from home in a nice environment versus the right to be able to live in ones home area. Congestion in Cornwall can be horrific at times, and parking is expensive. House prices in Cornwall have soared (especially due to covid). House pices in villages make the traditional small cottages extortionately expensive. A parking space in a laybye was sold in St.Ives for over £50000. Is there an equitable answer? Probably not. Places like Cornwall and west Wales are too remote for the growth of employment hubs. Wages are therefore depressed and often seasonal.

But conversely it is surely every workers right to escape from the urban existence once a year? 2nd home ownership is perhaps the worst example. 1 in 19 homes in Cornwall is a second home. 19000 properties are classified as second homes. Occupancy levels are 89% in peak season – but statistics out of season are difficult to obtain The average salary in Cornwall is £34.6k, according to Cornwall Community Foundation, while the UK average salary is £42.2k.  Education levels of achievement are also lower commensurate with the employment opportunities offered. And still the Numpties voted for Brexit that cut off a lifeline of investment! It is definitely a problem – solution ?????

Yesterday I stated that Israel may have had a reasonable reason for the strike on Iran. Inevitably Iran struck back and some missiles got through the shield and fatalities occurred. This maust have been factored in by the Israeli government. But again Israel;s response is disproportionate. The escalation by Israel is of concern – they are perhaps the only nuclear country that is likely to use nukes as an offence weapon rather than a last resort one. Even Putin has not used his huge arsenal in the Ukraine. Iran’s religious leaders will be strengthened and whilst Netanyahu may call for the Iranian people to rise up he is talking bullshit. The people of Gaza have not rebelled against Hamas despite the carnage and destruction wrought by Israel. Iran is a theocracy with indoctrination installed in children from an early age (was it true that Iran children were offered two more years at shool if they walked through minefields to clear them?).

Israel has used a huge amount of bombing raids, and ground forces against Hamas and has still not recovered all the hostages. the cost to Israel of the Gaza offensive is estimated to be $250 billion with total costs nearer $400 billion. Of this the USA has According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the United States spent $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024. In December 2023, the WSJ report stated that US arms shipments to Israel since the start of the war included 15,000 bombs and 57,000 155mm artillery shells. Trump maybe happy with this but will the American people? Mid terms are coming over the horizon – he has alienated most of the non-knuckle draggers – will he have aenough support after Nov.2026? Or will he pass laws disenfranchising vast swathes of the population?

Back to Iran – its land borders seem secure; Goergia and Turkmenistan to the north; Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east; Turkiye and Iraq to the west maybe its weakest link but nothing is straight forward in this region. Iraq appears to be a mess after meddling by the west and NATO, whilst Turkiye is proving its independence and ability as a mediator wherever possible whilst being a muslim country it is Shia rather than Sunni. So that leaves the south bordered by the Red Sea with Saudi Arabia being the largest neighbour along with the Arab metro states and Oman. So a land force is unlikely to gain much traction. Which leaves air attack and missiles – with probable vast civilian casualties. Has the holocaust done something to Jewish minds that trivilises death of innocents?

For a while it looked like soft diplomacy might make roads into the Shia theocracy, but this will embolden the bigots in Iran, as warmongering has emboldened and strengthened the `jewish bigots.

So today is pessimistic – Without external pressure neither Israel or Iran look likely to back down. And as a major funder of Israel and the worlds leading superpower (despite Trumps attempts to localise it) it is up to America to take a lead (Oh fuck Trump would be looking to build a resort in Tehran as part of the deal? So basically we are fucked – years of conflict and death with no outcome. Bollocks.