To feel like I'm not sure where I sit politically anymore, and to worry about it.

100% this. ^

And this was a year ago. Much worse now.

‘It’s an absurd caricature that progressives are ‘nicer’ and more compassionate. Keir Starmer is proving that Labour is now the nasty party’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/04/labour-is-now-the-nasty-party/

Also, even if every migrant was the most wonderful addition to our country, there is the simple question of numbers. We are a small island and I'd rather not concrete over it. We also have a housing crisis which is contributing to issues of poverty and people not having as many children.

WRT disability benefits and needing enough taxpayers - I'm all for getting people back to work. But this government (that I voted for!) are really not going about it the right way.

I wonder what the national picture is though?
IME it IS the poorer working class areas which experience high immigration (and associated issues), but I don't actually know the stats.

Certainly in the city I live in it is the wealthier areas that are overwhelmingly white.

I don't live in a wealthy area. I live in the area with the most migrants. There are two groups that cause particular issues.

One group seem to have no comprehension that other people exist - they play v loud music in the street, have v v loud raucous all-night parties frequently on any day of the week (in terraced maisonettes!) that often spill over into brawling in the street, some of them run an illegal garage filling the air with exhaust fumes and taking up parking spaces which are already in short supply, raid the bins for stuff to sell and leave the rubbish strewn over the streets, and previously had old women begging in the street with a couple of dodgy looking blokes keeping an eye from around the corner. Intriguingly their children (who roam the streets from approx age 3) are a delight, and seem to be super receptive to clearly wonderful work being done in local schools, suggesting that the problems caused by their parents will not continue down the generations.

The other group that is a problem is more complex situation. This is those who believe women should be treated as second class citizens. This is complex because some from the same country/religion are much more integrated, doing great community work etc. But others are shocking - for example bringing over underage wives from their "home" country despite growing up in the UK. This is a problem that should have been nipped in the bud 30 years ago, but has been allowed to run and create an entrenched culture that threatens women's rights more broadly.

Both groups were involved in local paedophile gangs that came to light a few years ago.

I'm pretty much left wing on everything except migration. I cannot understand the lefty campaigner volunteer types who appear to place anything involving migrants at the top of their list, with only a second thought given to those who are often poorer and struggling due to other "isms".

I hate how it is chracterised as "not liking brown people". Nope - couldn't care less about the colour of someone's skin. Grew up in a functional multicultural area. What I don't like is people who wreck the local area or treat me as second class citizen because I'm female.

BTW, I meant to say ex Londoner
Not "excellent Londoner" 😂😂😂

I'm sure you were a most excellent Londoner 😄

Sorry, I meant the UK

Actually if you look at the US breakdowns, it's Gen X that gave Trump the win, not the Boomers.

I was initially surprised by this, but the more I think of it, the more it makes sense.

I know exactly how you feel, although I will admit from a slightly different perspective.

I have felt politically homeless pretty much forever as my views are a curious mix of right wing and left wing. Ideologically I am fairly right wing however on a fair number of economic issues I am left wing. I hold very few centrist views and both traditional parties have policies I love and policies I absolutely hate.

This is why the entre country is run for the benefit of the baby boomer (and I am one).

I loved the idea of being an excellent Londoner.

Yes. Trump won because his campaign team put the work in of identifying the issues most voters cared about, including the vital swing voters, and targeted them hard.

Kamala lost because her team disastrously failed to do this.

This just sounds like a wishlist of things that would benefit you, and ditching all the stuff that would not.

So sad to see it. I recall so much backlash to anyone bringing it up.

"The problem isnt liberalism, the problem is weakness" - Kemi Badenoch's speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference.

Thought provoking, whatever your political views may be.

@Flitwickflight
I’m sick of governments sucking up to voters. We need to run the country better
We live in a democracy though so the only way for a political party to get into power is to convince enough people to vote for them.

The winter fuel allowance debacle was indeed farcical but it just highlights how a lot of people generally are against any cuts to what they consider to be vulnerable groups (elderly, disabled, SEN children) but they also detest tax rises. They want a magic bullet that will lead to all public services being better funded and everyone getting all the support and help they want and yet they personally won't pay more tax or experience a crap economy. It's pie on the sky thinking and Labour have absolutely played their part in pretending that this could be possible.

The refreshing thing about Reform is that they are at least being clear that cuts will need to be made. I see Farage this morning has mentioned school transport. Whether you agree or disagree with the specific cuts he has mentioned at least he is being clear that cuts are needed and suggesting areas to make them. I wish the other political parties would do the same so that we can have honest, mature conversations about what we value most as a society and how it will be funded. If it's winter fuel allowance then this will mean more children in poverty. If it's good NHS provision for all then this may mean reduced level of benefits for the disabled etc. They are not easy trade offs but something has to give and we as a society need to make a fully informed decision.

In fairness though a lot of working class areas are very white British and always have been. My older family live in an overwhelmingly white working class area, no Polish shops, Asian supermarkets etc. There was a Chinese run fish and chip shop that was there 50 years ago when I was a child. Also my doctor and dentist when I was a child were both Indian.
My family can't stand immigrants and often go on about how they're taking over the area (not near them they aren't). I might have some sympathy if they no longer recognise any of their local shops and are now surrounded by people speaking a language they don't understand but that's not the case were they are. I remember being told not to ever bother applying for a job at Aldi because they only hire Polish people, if you're British you've got no chance. Now I've been many times to their local Aldi and have never seen or heard (from the language/accent) anyone, either staff or shoppers who wasn't white British.
My family will also take huge offence if anyone dare suggest they're racist. They're just saying it like it is as far as they're concerned.

This article gives an overview of what the writer believes the future of the UK is likely to be unless the government implements robust intervention now.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/m/ma-me/matthew-goodwin/

'left wing' has been hijacked by middle class liberals with their 'refugees welcome', 'open the borders' 'TWAW' destructiveness. More interested in going out to cities protesting about Palestine than what's going on here.

Left wing, traditionally, was primarily about economic fairness and worker's rights which is what the traditional Labour movement was about pre New Labour. But the socially liberal have destroyed the reputation of the left with all their woke bullshit and left many in the country turning further to the right as a result, who would have traditionally voted Labour in the past.

MN has always been against this kind of discussion

And now women are more unsafe than ever in their own country.

Suicidal empathy. This is where liberalism has ended up.

Many will continue to spout nonsense, but a lot of the time the big proponents of mass immigration are either rich people who benefit from that (and live away from it in nice areas). Or Lib Dem types out in the countryside who again are well away from it.

Ask anyone working class who actually have to deal with it and they'll tell you straight (more than likely). Yet the above will call them racist. It's all so unfair what the politicians and the liberals have done to this country.

Except in a democracy its impossible not to suck up to the voter. If you don't you won't be elected and somebody who does suck up will be.

It does feel it could be too late very soon. All the attacks and insults to stop the topic being discussed, such an own goal.

I’m sick of governments sucking up to voters. We need to run the country better. That means making our tax system really efficient, cutting freebies to people who don’t need them, deporting immigrants who add nothing to our country, things like that.

The outcry about winter fuel was farcical. What £35k a year pensioner needs it? They need to restrict it to those with income under £20k. They need to get rid of the ludicrous 60% marginal rate of tax, give everyone free childcare and child benefit and increase the top rate of tax to pay for it, they need to scrap stamp duty and increase council tax to pay for it, they need to ditch the pensions triple lock. All of these things would massively improve the financial state of this country. I voted for Labour hoping they were intelligent enough to crack on with these policies that economists across the board were crying out for. And yet no, they’re too scared of the electorate. It’s pathetic. This country is sunk.

“But what's amusing is that people seem to think "I am left-wing therefore I must be a good person". Just… What? 😂 😂😂 a lot of posts feel like people saying "I'm not left-wing anymore and I'm freaked out about it". It's not your moral compass. From looking at this thread, in many cases, it seems to be a political position that people didn't think through.”

@EmeraldRoulette - this is probably true of me and a fair criticism. I mean I try to be a good person and I try to see the good in other people too.

Maybe I’ve been an idiot (e.g. other previous post about hearts and brains).

Firstly, I think immigration is too big and complex an issue to be left in the hands of a single government based on an assumed five-year term: it should be the responsibility of a cross-party or neutral long-term working group, made up of a combination of experts, civil servants and MPs. Uncontrolled immigration wasn't a problem that happened overnight and it won't be solved that way.

Secondly, and this is my unpopular opinion, I think the UK should implement a mandatory ID scheme. Practically every other European country has one in place and the fact that the UK does not is one of the reasons why it's an attractive destination for those with nefarious intent.

At the moment, unless you have a driving licence or a passport (and not even all UK citizens do, because they're expensive and can be difficult to obtain), you have no instant way of verifying your identity.