Keir Starmer Is So Beyond Useless” | 50,000 Illegal migrants Arrived Under Labour

Let's get the thoughts right now on all of those topics and plenty more from my colleague, partner in crime in the studio today, Tom Slater. He's the editor of Spiked Online, he regularly joins us on a Tuesday. Morning to you. Morning, Julia. Sweltering hot morning. You worried about dying later today? That hadn't crossed my mind, no. You've obviously not been watching the BBC. It is incredible. At what point did the summer become terrifying? I'm old enough to remember when I lived through 1976. But I was living in America in 1976 in the Midwest. When everyone here was going on, this is when we had old-fashioned temperatures, it was like 80 degrees. It was 80 degrees and everyone was very hot here. It was 120 in the shade where I lived. Our school closed in April because it was no longer possible to basically not have children fainting in the classroom behind the glass. Primary school was mostly glass. We just had a whole lot. I was eight years old. It was brilliant. We had the whole summer in 120 degrees. We all survived. It's amazing. Again, the small point is, in winter, we don't have a warning every day that people might die because it's cold in winter, do we? Nine out of ten people who die any temperature-related death, it's for cold, not heat, and that includes in Africa. Absolutely. That fact tells you everything you need to know. Why do we always hear about heat health alerts? Why do we always see those new weather maps they've got up where if it's about 30 degrees, it's no longer just red, it's kind of black. So this is clearly because it's setting a certain tone, isn't it, about climate change making you worried about it. It's propaganda. It's so obvious and I think people are seeing through that now, aren't they? Because everyone knows from their own childhood that 30 degree heat is not panic stations. It's hot and it can be unpleasantly hot if you're in an office or without air-con, but it's perfectly doable, perfectly livable. It's just madness. But again, if you want to know just how inaccurate and how propaganda-based and just sort of agenda-based news is in this country, and it's BBC, it's Sky, it's ITV, they're all the same. DC is the worst of the worst. But that tells you, if you can't trust them on things like the weather, right, how can you trust them on things like, was that Al Jazeera journalist who was killed by the IDF a journalist or was he actually a Hamas terror cell leader? Was he someone who celebrated October the 7th, who had selfies with Yair Yassin? But they don't report that. They say that Israel has claimed that. Well, no, they've actually shown the proof of it. So I just don't think I can trust a single word I see on mainstream media. And I did not feel that a few years ago. No, and I think they haven't even realised how much politics and bias has corrupted what they do. It's the kind of water that they swim in, so therefore they don't even realise that they're doing it. But as soon as you get wise to the kinds of biases, the kinds of ways in which things are being shaped, you see it everywhere. I mean, and this is opinion radio and TV. This is what we do. I'm employed to give my opinion, you know, but it's based on the facts. I mean, I change my opinion if the facts are, if I can get new facts, all the facts change. But yeah, it's extraordinary. That's supposed to be, there is nowhere I can go now for completely unbiased factual news in the mainstream at all. But anyway, let's talk about boat crossings, because again, desperate migrants fleeing France. Of course, they're illegal migrants. They are largely young men of fighting age. 50,000 is likely to be the number that we are going to be seeing today, the official figures, because we already had 49,797 officially in the latest set of figures. And once you add in Monday's 430, ta-da, you're over 50,000. It is extraordinary when you break it down to one illegal migrant arriving every 11 minutes, despite Keir Starmer promising to smash the gangs. Can we all at least agree, I'm not sure the gangs are smashed? Certainly not on today's evidence. I mean, he's only really been smashing the record for the number of migrants come over in this period of time. It's 50% up. It's 50% up on last year, as you say, absolutely. And this was always going to happen. I mean, it was clear that for all the problems with the Rwanda plan, with that falling with the last government, there was always going to, and the obviously well-earned perception that this Labour government was going to be a softer touch, even more so than the previous government. It's almost like the migrants have got mobile phones, they can see these things. Exactly. It's almost as if they're paying attention to these things. It's almost as if the people smugglers are paying attention to these things. There was evidence that people, they were holding back on the crossings because they wanted to see how the election panned out. So this was everyone apart from the Labour Party. And the fact that they thought that if they would just get in there, because they're nicer people, and they're more competent people, and they're not Tories, this will work itself out. It's amazing how many issues that they were absolutely, whether it's growth in the economy, you know, whether it's dealing with the EU, trade, whether it's boat migrants, you name it. Don't worry, they obviously massively underestimated how hard these things are and massively overestimated their competence. My biggest issue with Labour is not their policies or their beliefs, it's their abject incompetence. I mean, they are so beyond useless. It takes a certain amount of arrogance and chutzpah, I think, to be someone who is so incompetent at their job that they think that they would be really good at running the country. If you're that much of an run the country. I want someone brilliant to run the country. I don't mean to have an Oxbridge PhD, I don't mean that, but I just want someone who's got proved brilliance at it. Again, I think that someone who has run logistics at Tesco should run the country. I'm absolutely serious. I think someone who gets how to get stuff done, manage people and get stuff done, and you know what? Oh, it's suddenly a barbecue day, not a rainy day. Right, suddenly everything is in the supermarket that I need for a barbecue. Those people can get the job done. I think you could transfer those skills to government better than you can transfer the skills of being, I don't know, a trade union activist for a healthcare charity. Or a human rights lawyer, as the case might be. I mean, if anything, that seems to be a hindrance to being an effective leader in this area in which we live. Did you see Jackie Smith, former Home Secretary, of course, for Labour, and she has been doing the rounds for the media on another subject we're going to talk about a little bit later on getting more builders trained. A sensible policy. I'm all in favour of that. Of course, they'll still have to do their diversity targets and all that nonsense at uni. They'll probably have a rainbow lanyard test as part of the qualification. But she was being asked repeatedly on the media this morning. I just kept like, what time is she on everywhere? I want to see what else she's being asked. And she was basically saying, look, it's not our fault. She was basically saying, it's not our responsibility. We're dealing with a problem that built up over years under the Tories. And now we've got this problem. And it's like, well, OK, so when does a 48%, 50% rise in the number of migrants arriving? When does that become Labour's fault and Labour's responsibility? That question was asked repeatedly. It was not answered. Especially because they haven't got an answer. We all know this. I mean, they have tried to tinker around the edges of this problem, you know, strike up certain deals with places in Iraqi Kurdistan, trying to crack down on where the gangs kind of originate. Obviously, the deal with the French, the 17 in, one out plan, which might be even worse than that if some people's analysis turns out to be true. They refuse to kind of grasp the nettle, really, which, of course, is the ECHR, it's our human rights set up, the inability of us to deport someone, even if they've come to the country and committed a string of sexual offences. Their solution is going to be, we're going to quietly give a load of people leave to remain, but not necessarily go on to sign them and get them off the list. We're going to quietly deport a few people back to countries where we've frankly already been deporting them, or we'll pay people. And we're going to, and I know what they're going is they're going to put people into housing, private housing, so we're not really able to identify where they are, as opposed to people, I mean, there's actually an interactive map you can find, which literally says where people, where asylum hotels are in your local area. And I've looked it in, yeah, looked it up, yep, very accurate, check them out, yeah, very accurate. Now, you know, they're just going to try and hide the problem, because they think the problem is people knowing about it, talking about it and protesting it. That's the problem, not the actual arrival of, you know, 50,000 fighting-age men whose identity we know nothing of from some of the most dangerous war-torn countries in the world. And yes, you can say, well, that's why they're desperate. Well, they weren't desperate by the time they got on those dinghies in France, and they're not my problem. I don't care anymore. I think the British public have said we don't care anymore. We're done. That's it. Close the, close the doors. What do you make of Kemi Bainock's suggestion that actually we should have got housing asylum seekers in camps instead of hotels? You get rid of them quicker, but crucially, they need to not be a burden on the public, not taking up hotel space. I mean, Bournemouth, holiday, brilliant holiday resort, you know, I used to go to party conferences there, three major hotels, big hotels taken over for migrants. Well, those are people who are, those hotel spaces, not available for holidaymakers, which pushes up prices for them, you know, in other hotels, but also those are people who are not spending on the beach, spending in the restaurants, ordering taxis. They're probably driving the taxis, who are we kidding? But, you know, I bet you can get an Uber delivery very quickly in Bournemouth as a result. No, but it just, there is a massive impact on local economy, and if you put people into housing, there's a massive impact on local rents. Oh, no, absolutely, and it's something where you used the phrase earlier to sort of treat with the symptoms or pushing the problem around. That's exactly what successive governments have done. Under the Tories, there were kind of other options at their disposal, kind of old army bases and so on, but there were, again, investigations saying that that was terribly inhumane, and therefore you end up with the hotels, now we end up with more of the HMOs. It's just constantly pushing the problem around, and whether or not you're talking about, you know, tents or an encampment or whatever, in a way that's still part of that same conversation. The issue is, how do you make sure that who comes into your country is a decision made by your country in the first place, and how do you deport people who have no right to be here? That seems to me where the conversation... And we've also got the issue of people who have rented here legally but are not working. I mean, all the people around me who are begging, I would say, you know, clearly foreign, and I would say, are you here legally? If you're here legally, go and get a job. Spread to your jobs. If you're not here legally, frankly, F off home. I mean, I say that, just go home. I mean, I'm calling the police on you now. I mean, we disappear, take photos of them. I mean, we've got a homeless city that was in High Park in London. Now those people, the police finally decided to move them. They're now all sleeping on Oxford Street, outside the John Lewis, the flagship John Lewis store on Oxford Street, just like Rose and Rosa, the perfect new white duvets, no doubt, all stolen. And you look at these people, I'm going out on a limb. I don't think they're British. They're not war veterans who have fallen on hard times, or youngsters fleeing abusive homes and dealing with drugs and who we should be absolutely helping every single day, and getting them off the streets and get helping sort out their lives. Talking about people who've come to this country, how do you think they're making money, people? They've not got jobs. They're not claiming benefits, otherwise they'd be given somewhere to live. So you know how they're making money. They're shoplifting. And are they scumbags if they're shoplifting, Tom? That's the question. Because the Prime Minister apparently thinks not, after a shopkeeper put up that sign saying, scumbag shoplifters. If you want to get something, I have to go open and unlock the cabinet for you, because of scumbag shoplifters. I think that's a rather generous term. No, exactly. I mean, it could have been a lot more fruity in the language, and maybe that would have led the police to his door. But the fact that this became an issue for the law to get involved, and also the fact that Keir Starmer is so great at reading the room, and the sense of where the public are on things like shoplifting, and how much of a pox it is not only on the people who own and run those shops, but also the communities which are blighted by it. To almost take offence at how someone is pushing back against shoplifters is so embarrassing. But again, I think it comes down to Keir Starmer, he's so kind of tin-eared to where the public are. But again, the police getting angry about people having, I mean, a lot of my local shops have got pictures of five or six shoplifters basically saying that these are people who shoplift. Here they are shoplifting in our store. Well, you know, probably in breach of GDPR. OK, send the police round. But again, why don't you send the police round when they catch the shoplifters? That might be more useful. I think people are genuinely, again, an island of strangers. No, an island of scumbags it turns out. I genuinely think that people have, I mean, we've talked about this quite a few times, people have had enough. I was talking to neighbours the other day about, you know, you'd set up like a meeting with our local councillors about the, you know, the rubbish you get strewn in the street, just the, you know, the heroin, the people shooting up heroin. Live in a nice area. I live in a nice area. We've got people shooting up heroin in doorways, for goodness sake. And, you know, and a huge number of foreign beggars. I mean, there's one woman, there's one woman and she's been begging for years. She's the size of a house. I'm not joking. She's doing well for herself. Great trade. Claims not to have a house but is the size of a house. And she holds this sign up outside the news station saying, I am hungry. And every time I see her, I burst out laughing. And I said to her, I said to her, you've not been hungry, not for a day, you've never been hungry for an hour. You haven't been hungry for an hour of your life. I mean, and I mentioned before, there's another woman, old, much older woman. And again, Romanian, I'm pretty sure Romanian. And because I've got Romanian in my family, so I recognise some of the things she's, I think, pretty sure. She seems to speak English when I say I'm getting the police. Put it that way. And you'll probably all think I'm very heartless. But no, I've said, these are like the regulars, you know. And she's been able to get a picture of a kid. And this picture must have been taken in 1965, right? And she goes, oh, my child, my child. And I said, genuinely, I've lived here 19 years. Your kid, you've probably got great-grandchildren by now. This is like, this is not your kid. I mean, this kid is long gone, you know. I mean, they're taking them in. But what bothers me is they must be doing it knowing that people will give them money. Every time you, every time you give money to somebody, especially when they send kids around on public transport and things, every time you give money to these people, you are part of the problem. You're part. If you really care about this, give some money to a homeless charity, give some money to shelter, give some money to the outreach team so they can actually, you know, try and help people who are genuinely in need. Don't give any money to people on the street. No, absolutely. And I know some people just aren't aware of how much they're often being had in those situations. But you're absolutely right. It's something that I think for a lot of people, it's more about making them feel good. It's not certainly going to help anyone. Totally. I haven't gone to the small matter of war in Europe. I've just been told to break. But I want to I want to ask you about Ukraine quickly. Ukraine say they probably are told from this meeting, Zoom meeting between Ukrainian European leaders ahead of the Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Big worries from the part of European leaders and Zelensky, obviously, that he's just going to give away everything. I mean, bearing in mind, Trump has got his adviser, Steve Whitcoff, on this issue. His envoy doesn't even know apparently where Crimea is. It was in the Donbass region. Basically, it looks like the concessions could be huge, as in pretty much all the territory Vladimir Putin already has gained, he could get to keep. But that could only happen, surely, if there is a cast iron guarantee from NATO, from the US, from the Europeans, that any inch more will lead to all out war between NATO, the US and Russia. I don't even trust that. I wouldn't even trust any commitment like that, though, would you? No, and I'd be very surprised if that was something that's forthcoming from the Americans because of Trump's NATO scepticism, shall we say, his tendency to be his general kind of outlook, which is that he doesn't want America embroiled in these sorts of wars. And it's just the fact that this is being stitched up almost like between the old great powers with Ukraine, not even at the table, I think is a grim reminder of how in terms of this conflict, they're invaded by, they're invited by Russia, they rely on the support of America necessarily, but all it takes is a change in leadership and a change of weather for that to really fall apart for them. So it's a horrendous situation they've found themselves in. It does feel like they've run out of road, both domestically in terms of public support, as well as in terms of international support. And Britain, France and Germany, they talk a good game, but will they actually stump up? Yeah, the European powers are very good at posting statements, tweets, we stand by Ukraine. I'm sure Putin quakes in his boots every time he sees that, but they can never put their money where their mouth is, partly because our own militaries are in a complete mess. Yeah, exactly. But you know what, again, the message that's going to get to Putin is that war does work and it's only a matter of time for the next one. I think people are living in cloud cuckoo land to think that anything other than total defeat for Putin is the solution to this.