Why is there so much more anti immigration sentiment NOW?

I think it's in large part it's due to the nature of immigration now, along with how it is intersecting with the economy.

One thing is that it isn't actually particularly new to have people upset when they perceive that immigrants are getting jobs while natural citizens are unemployed, or what is probably more common, the feeling is that immigrants labour is suppressing wages or working conditions. This was a factor in the mid 20th century in some sectors like manufacturing.

Similarly if there is a lack of housing or other infrastructure and newcomers create more competition or create higher prices.

I think it should be easy to see why people would feel that way. Why would they be happy about an employer bringing in people so they can avoid paying a decent wage to their workers? That seems kind of crazy.

That's also part of the issue now, so it's about the fact that workers are feeling the negative effects of globalism (which is the point after all.)

I think today, it's also about numbers to a very large degree. Communities are stressed in certain ways by integrating newcomers, it can be done, and well, but the more people there are, the more resources it requires. And issues of housing and health services and such are at a very high stress point already.

In some cases, I have felt that the type of people coming from abroad now isn't the same as they were in the past either. This is anecdotal and may well depend on location, but many Asian immigrants I know from previous generations had many cultural similarities, good English, trades or professional skills, and integrated well. I am finding lately that there seem to be more people who struggle more to integrate, and have poor English. So possibly that could be a factor too.

It will be bye bye to Labour at the next GE. The public are beyond fed up.

I think the tories and reform will end up jointly running the country.

This is such a naive, short sighted opinion, which is all too common among the well meaning liberal middle classes.

The plural of anecdote isn’t data. Your one lazy British woman is no more representative of all white working class women in this country than the 7/7 bombers are of all second generation Muslim immigrants.

Care work is extremely physical, emotionally taxing, often unpleasant work that is incredibly poorly paid. If you can get minimum wage working in a care home, or working in MacDonalds, most people would very reasonably choose the MacDonalds job.

If you want to attract more people to care work, you have to pay a little bit more, to beat out the many other minimum wage jobs available.

But instead of stumping up a bit more cash in the short term, our government has decided to import hundreds of thousands of extremely poorly paid care workers, who will be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years, and citizenship after 6, giving them full access to the welfare state for the rest of their lives. They will at that point automatically qualify for social housing and UC top ups, given how poorly paid they are. Plus, there’s no age limit for the care worker visa - we are quite literally importing people in their forties and fifties who will not work anywhere near long enough to make up for the costs we will sustain supporting them in their retirements.

We could pay care workers a little bit more to make it a more attractive employment option, but our government prioritises short term savings at all costs, even though that means saddling ourselves with the massive long term costs of importing hundreds of thousands of low skilled, poorly paid workers from developing countries.

It is the scale of immigration without increasing the support to infrastructure (housing/education/health) and also the lack of integration into British society. The U.K. has not managed immigration that well and it is causing resentment.

It’s not social media, it’s material reality.

In the 1950s, when your grandparents came, net migration was 50,000 a year. That was manageable.

By 2015, it was 300,000. It’s now over 700,000. That is not manageable.

We don’t have enough homes for our existing population, and certainly aren’t building at a sufficient rate to meet people’s needs. What do you think happens when on top of that, we add the population of Cardiff and Nottingham combined to the mix every single year?

What do you have to do in order to be considered integrating?

^

Hmm, learning the English language, not committing FGM, 'honour' killings, that kind of thing?

And yes, I am privy to recent immigrants thanks

And older ones too, along the lines of Rochdale/ Oldham

I don’t think it’s entirely racism. I’m not white and my grandparents were immigrants and even I think there’s a huge issue. Previously I was pro immigration. My grandparents are amazing. They worked hard their entire lives and integrated into society. A few years ago I moved to a big city in an area that white British is actually the minority and noticed that people aren’t integrated they stick to their own groups. I’ve noticed huge amounts of anti social behaviour
fireworks at all hours of the day and night set off in extremely dangerous ways any day of the year
the school my child attends are having huge issues with children behaving appallingly and serious hygiene issues among the children (ringworm/scabies/serious tooth decay/lice…)
fly tipping is constant and the council are out weekly to clear it
In a visit to the gp this week I was told to “claim everything you can because people come here claiming everything on temporary visas and bring their whole families along” the gp is also non white.
I just think people are sick of the economic migrants that are rinsing the system and behaving horrendously

We also need to seriously improve infrastructure / housing etc. if we are going to continue importing people at the rate we have been for the last couple of years. And we will need to have conversations about benefits and pensions because we can’t afford to maintain an open borders policy but also the same welfare state that we’re all accustomed to

Housing definitely needs to be a priority, as does school provision. In my borough schools are 'amalgamating' (ie closing) but this just means cramming more students into smaller spaces. SEN provision is woeful.
Re benefits, the introduction of UC has seen a very direct correlation to the number of new claimants of PIP. There has been a 67% increase since 2017-18 to 2023-24. I don't believe that we suddenly have more disabled people, it was much easier not to work under the tax credits system. Since the migration across to UC the work commitments have not only increased, but sanctions imposed if they are not met. This was never the case on the old system. And I know from my own experience at the job centres that a huge amount of 'locals' are claiming to not be able to work due to MH issues.

My hope is for my country to find a way forward without ghettos

Genuine question, are they only considered ghettos when it's an area of predominantly non-white people?

where all men and women are treated equally, a place where everyone feels part of one society not in some way outside of it. One set of laws applied fairly and equitably to all for the good of all

You could take out every single non white person of the UK and this still wouldn't happen. The law was created by those in power to uphold those in power, it has never been a fair and equal society.

I think generally people just want to be able to have a debate without being called racist. Personally I’m pro immigration but I’m not pro open borders and atm I feel like they haven’t got the balance right.

I also think they need to get tough on foreign criminals. I was appalled after it came out that the man who threw alkaline at the woman and her children had been granted asylum even though he had x2 convictions for sexual assault. I naively thought this would never happened. I also naively thought violent foreign national criminals were deported after being released from prison.

The public rely on the state to keep us safe and policies that allow men like this to remain in the UK break down the trust of the public.

We also need to seriously improve infrastructure / housing etc. if we are going to continue importing people at the rate we have been for the last couple of years. And we will need to have conversations about benefits and pensions because we can’t afford to maintain an open borders policy but also the same welfare state that we’re all accustomed to.

Because there’s so, so much more immigration now. It’s massively visible.

I think it’s lots of things;

The perception of uncontrollable migration- small boats as an example and then the discussion of those people being given housing, benefits etc when English born people get pushed to the back

Dwindling resources - can’t rent a house affordably, can’t see a doctor, can’t access a dentist, 11 hours wait in A&E. The perception is one of overcrowding alongside inability to access things that used to be available.

Social media encouraging tribal thinking. Brexit definitely encouraged racists to be more public with their thoughts but racism was definitely around in my generation (70s onwards). I know lots of people feel emboldened to write shit anonymously online and maybe that seeps into the sentiment on the street. If you’re in a message group when you’re regularly reading and spouting National Front stuff I can well imagine you are then furious when you step into real life and see someone you perceive as the wrong colour/race/culture/religion.

i also think the terrorism we’ve had from 9/11 onwards has not helped at all. We are now deeply suspicious of Islam as a society and that impacts swathes of people negatively. Even those who aren’t muslim
but are assumed to be.

You friend makes an excellent point. Diversity policies, by definition is divisive. There’s been a growing tide of self flag hating largely middle class white straight people (often women) who have spent so much time and energy wringing their hands over all the diversity boxes which are full of people who probably don’t want to be pigeon holed because of one aspect of their being, that one thing becoming their entire personality yo the outside world.

white straight saviour identity is very much alive and kicking in the Home Counties

@GreyWasp , very, very sadly there will always be bigots. Human nature dictates that where people find others who think as they do they will feel empowered to express that bigotry.
On the whole I believe the U.K. has a proud history of offering a home and a new life to those who come here in need of asylum. Many who have come here in great numbers have done so while maintaining their cultural heritage they have assimilated into British society and have become contributing members of their communities.
There is discomfort among a growing number of people in regard to those who have enjoyed our hospitality but have made little effort to assimilate and have not encouraged their children who have been born here to do so either. Often these people live in quiet closed communities and are not particularly welcoming of those outside of their culture. This is problematic to people who may have lived in those areas for generations and no longer feel comfortable there. It is not good for society as a whole.
There is discomfort too about the great differences in culture of some immigrant communities especially in regard to their views towards women. Then again there are other groups of people who sadly seem to be disproportionately represented in knife crime for instance.
Life is tough for a lot of people at the moment and many people have concerns about how much our nation can afford to support all of the people who seek to relocate here.
Increasing numbers of people are asking what can be done about these issues and those people are being branded by some as far right racists. If something is repeated frequently enough people will come to believe it is true. I don’t believe the vast majority are racist at all and I think that accusation is levelled at them in an attempt to silence them. I also think that a tipping point has been breached and that the hope of silencing them is past.
My hope is for my country to find a way forward without ghettos and where all men and women are treated equally, a place where everyone feels part of one society not in some way outside of it. One set of laws applied fairly and equitably to all for the good of all.
I hope we continue to welcome to our shores those genuinely in need of asylum. I hope that we maintain our precious right to free speech and peaceful protest.
And I fervently hope that those who so unfairly condemn as racists those who dare to speak about their concerns would put their arrogant belief in their own righteousness aside and learn to listen.

Right! Can't win any which way.

I called it an aggression, not racism. You have to be living under a rock to not know that somefolks are born with thick brows.
And she was insistent they couldn't be hers, after being told many times they were just thick brows. She has very obvious non high-definition brows. Just lovely thick brows and wears not an ounce of makeup.

The poor immigrants can't win, they are either stealing the jobs all of 'our' jobs or "not working a day in their lives".

I'm genuinely interested in this. What do you mean by "our songs, own way of life?".

🤣🤣🤣 Most of this is just laughable, but haven't ethnic ghettos been an issue since the 1950s?

I don't believe 'recent immigrants' work ethic is a matter for question when they're supposedly 'stealing jobs' or propping up the black economy/ undercutting wages (being exploited).

What does integration look like to you?

For me, I feel as though multiculturalism has meant that my culture is starting to disappear. Growing up I remember us having our own songs, celebrations and way of life. We even had our own language of sorts. Sadly, it's mostly gone now. I am of course glad that we are welcoming as a country and people generally feel safe here, but I can't deny that I feel a sense of sadness at the loss of my culture.

Britain has been recruiting foreign nurses since the beginning of the NHS, so i can't see that a free degree goes any way in stopping this trend.

@argyllherewecome stories like that make me feel really embarrassed. The mob mentality is scary.

I have to check myself continually as I think it's harder and harder to just pause and be measured for so many these days. SM is great in many ways but also riles people up terribly.

Having been in hospital so often I am usually treated by someone not UK born and wonder how the NHS would function at all without the overseas staff

@Tittat50 I was following the news in the summer of the riots in Northern Ireland, where rioting groups were burning out businesses and attacking the homes of 'foreigners'. Non white medical staff in the regional hospital were having to be taxied into work due to mobs attacking them on public transport/walking. The clinical director said the hospital would literally have to close if they couldn't come into work, and that due to the riots and subsequent staff shortage patient care was compromised.

Because 20 years ago immigration numbers were in the 10s of thousands and generally immigrants assimilated really well in British culture and society. We're now reaching nearly a million immigrants net a year. People are finally starting to notice the detrimental effects of this over the last decade or so.

When people's lives are worse or poorer because of something they've had no say over, people start to get a bit pissed off.

Are you privy to all of the "recent immigrants?" Your post just sounds like one of those '[insert town] Immigrant Watch' groups. And what does integrate mean? What do you have to do in order to be considered integrating?