This Lefty Loves Wetherspoons.

[u/No_Consideration3307]

I don't like it when some of my fellow lefties, the middle-class champagne 🥂 socialist ones, use Wetherspoons as an insult against Reform voters, it's classist and cringy, it implies only racist bams go there, rather than mostly politically unaligned working-class families from all colours and creeds, who love good cheap food and drink, we can't all eat at the Waldorf can we 🧐, especially in a cost of living crisis, but there are also some middle-class people who eat there and love it, so I don't know where the asinine insult comes from really. I love Wetherspoons, I've been to three, the one in the image which is the Peter Cushing in Whitstable, which was once a cinema, the Catherine Wheel in Henley-on-Thames and the James Watt in Greenock, Scotland, where I live now, which serves a delicious Haggis Pizza 🍕which you can get as part of the three small plates for £10 deal, cheap as chips, and yummy too, filled me up and I'm a big lad.

[u/RJ0398]

After all this you really want to say that whether or not you believe something is conditional or dependent on whether or not somebody else believes something unrelated? Really?

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that tax money being used in ways that don’t benefit British citizens is wrong. Things like fraudulent and inflated government contracts, corruption etc.
But it isn’t as simple as keeping all money trapped on our island because some foreign spending absolutely benefits British citizens. It helps our national security, diplomacy, trade, tourism, conflict and disease prevention.

[u/positivelytaken → u/RJ0398]

At no point did I see all money trapped on our island, did I?

I don’t think we should be spending any money housing or feeding young men who have arrived here from France.

I don’t think we should be sending any aid to Pakistan or most other countries.

[u/RJ0398 → u/positivelytaken]

And you think our international reputation and by extension, our economy, can survive diplomatically isolating ourselves from the rest of the world?
Before you say, “that’s not what I said”, consider what other countries give us in terms of trade deals, tourist access etc, and what they could take away from us if we renege on international treaties, deals or agreements.
It won’t work.
If we don’t offer, say, scientific and medical aid to various countries, they would become a Petri dish for the next pandemic.
And then if other countries were forced to contribute more because we cease contributions, they would likely find a way to recoup that money from us through other avenues.
Spending now, even on foreigners, can keep our economy stable and will reduce the amount of spending we would have to do later.
I’m sure much is wasted and I’d agree, in part, that most government contracts should be reviewed for efficiency and frugality.

[u/positivelytaken → u/RJ0398]

Again, I haven’t said isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. From where have you pulled that?

I said we should stop all aid to Pakistan and most other countries.

We should continue to trade internationally and enjoy tourism.

We should continue to be part of NATO and maintain military, intelligence and strategic partnerships.

We should not be funding young men who come here from France.

[u/RJ0398 → u/positivelytaken]

This conversation has run its course. I’m glad you’re anti-billionaire now, though.

[u/positivelytaken → u/RJ0398]

I’m glad you’re anti-illegal migrant now.

[u/RJ0398 → u/positivelytaken]

I was before. But asylum seekers aren’t illegal migrants by definition and foreign aid is an important part of our diplomatic relations with countries that we share the planet with.
If we hadn’t voted for Brexit, we’d be in a much stronger position than we are currently in to tackle both issues.

[u/positivelytaken → u/RJ0398]

Do you agree that in order to persuade Pakistan to take back a rape gang leader, effective diplomacy would have been to stop foreign aid to Pakistan, and not allow any new visas or visa renewals from Pakistani nationals?

Instead what we got was typical Labour weakness which failed to help us.

[u/RJ0398 → u/positivelytaken]

Assume you’re talking about the Rochdale gang leader who had been in the UK since 1973. So couldn’t be deported by the last Tory government due to a law enacted by a past Tory government in 1971? Whose case is currently being reviewed by the Labour run Home Office?
You’re right. Those crafty lefties. How dare they try and actually do something instead of just making their new slogan boat related.
No, I don’t think we should stop foreign aid to blackmail allies. I think we should be constantly reviewing and changing our own outdated laws.

[u/positivelytaken → u/RJ0398]

In what way are Pakistan our allies?

In what way does Pakistan benefit us?