Immigrants but legal ones?

@pointythings The British have always been an insular nation, suspicious of foreigners.

How rude (and untrue).

My parents are migrants. So I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for migrants.
It's horrible how racism and the far right seems to have taken hold.
I don't know what can be done about it but it's really scary.

Honestly all us legal tax paying immigrants- especially those not white- need to stop trying to convince xenophobes, especially those on this thread. They won't be convinced. I do not care what they say.
I have been generally welcomed by most Londoners, so I venture to say that London is mostly very welcoming ( no experience of other cities)

‘Victim mentality’??

I’ve got no idea how your post relates to mine in any way. I’ll assume you’ve quoted the wrong one.

Actually some do. For example UAE. BUT it does bring them great benefits. That's the trick

I agree and also what a sad state of affairs to be so suspicious of everyone who is not exactly like you, I mean are we going to be reduced to being suspicious of people from the North or the South of the UK with this othering.

What are you on about? Your response makes no sense.

What question?

Exactly. That was the point that was being made.

@Ihavetoask in answer to your question, I work in a highly skilled, highly technical international industry where senior people are highly mobile (flow goes both ways). We simply could not get all the skills and experience we need if we only recruited people from the UK.

Well you havent been very welcoming have you? How dare they have a polish shop selling polish food how dare they

I completely agree with this.
Both my parents’ families were economic migrants to the UK about 100-120 years ago. I have a proper patchwork of heritages, but was born and raised in the UK by 2nd/3rd generationers. DDad in particular was passionate about embracing cultural diversity, multicultural society, the broader skills etc that immigration brought to the UK. In the 1980s I went to a big inner London school which boasted 46 mother tongues. We all grew up together in a supportive and appreciative environment. I hate the way the UK has gone in the last 10-15 years or so, and how social media has given a voice to hate. It’s getting increasingly hard to explain the news to my teenagers.

I might add that my employer has paid over £15000 in visa fees for my family and I over 5 years, and all 3 of us had to pass the Life in the UK test. Which my native British friends took for a laugh, and failed! I know just as much about the Bayeux tapestry as the average British person ( it's coming home).

Legal emigration to the UK as a skilled worker is by no means as easy as people think.

Of course it's OK they are white and their lack of education doesn't matter then but I suppose considering racism your point makes sense, Who cares about contribution if they are white.

I don’t think so. It seems that British people are not allowed ro speak freely and are called a racist as soon as they mention issues that immigarion can bring.

It's how racist people feel. Obviously, cuts to funding doesnt help. If your child is already not receiving the support they should according to their EHCP, and their resources are effectively being shared with other children who need support but aren't officially allocated it, then this competition for resources will make you resentful towards who you perceive as the competition. In this case it will be immigrant children who haven't secured the right support yet or the support no longer exists and is carried out by services who are already struggling with their caseload.

So this real problem of underfunding and deprivation just further reinforces their irrational racists beliefs.

Immigration has been too high, over too short a period and people feel they have lost control over their borders. This is not just a British issue- it is true in every developed country.

Right wing politicians have whipped up anti-immigrant sentiment to win votes- Cameron with his 100k net migration limit, Johnson, Patel etc. posturing after Brexit (when immigration went up, not down); now we have Farage with the migrant hotels. But once in power nothing actually changes so people feel betrayed. It's like turning on a pressure cooker and never taking off the lid.

I still think the UK is more welcoming of immigrants than many countries, and I don't think most people have an issue with individuals who've come here wanting to make a good life for themselves, even if they are opposed to overall immigration levels. Racism is abhorrent and I hope that you know OP that the majority of British people don't think that way. I can understand why you would feel that way though.

I get and agree that where there is an obvious difference, people are more likely to be singled out for discrimination and I an in now way minimising that but I see it going further. To me it seems like society itself is fragmenting and becoming more judgemental. If you are young, if you are old, single parent, and so on, there is someone to blame you for the country's troubles.

Wow.

@RedMaker
Why's that shocking? You can be an immigrant and still believe in a stringent and controlled immigration system, and in preserving the native people and culture. In fact, I'd say it's proof that they've integrated and are truly British and care for this country and its future.

Exactly.

Unfortunately as many have said not just British. I am just back from Japan for a holiday with my Japanese husband and was shocked by the racist rhetoric there, and the hatred shown by in-laws to Chinese recent immigrants. Similar rhetoric - they come here then immediately ditch jobs and are dependent on the state.

DH is on a business trip up north - rang me from the train yesterday to say he was worried that there might be racists there and would he be ok. That is the kind fear black and brown people feeling now. It's disgusting.

Those of us in mixed international marriages have to put up with racism and xenophobia in each other's countries. And charmingly a paramedic didn't recently believe my daughter was mine and kept shouting "what is your relationship, do you know this child" when I had to call an ambulance recently. Given I was holding her hand and she was calling me Mum, it was pretty obvious. I even had the doctor in the hospital ask if I was actually the Mum, despite us having the same surname. Ironically he was a brown chap....

Remigration has wormed its way in to mainstream media and every day talk, to disregard it would be foolish

The Telegraph had an interview with Lowe today

I'm sorry and ashamed of the Farage-fuelled hatred towards immigrants that is growing in this country

Don’t tar us all with your unpleasant brush and ridiculous sweeping generalisations. We are a much nicer country than many others where there is no democracy, political prisoners or dissenters are tortured and murdered, gay people are thrown off tall buildings, women are raped and then stoned to death and locked up in their house en masse.

This extreme ‘empathy’ that seems to turn into self flagellation for how ‘terrible’ we are is part of the problem.

We can’t be that bad if so many specifically want to come here rather than any if the other safe counties they’ve travelled through. But how can we expect incomers to respect us and our country if we don’t ourselves?

I think immigrants rarely integrate as well as they think. I live in a City with a large Polish community. I love the people I've met and worked with however the local area is now very over run with Polish shops, booze shops etc. Some only have Polish signage. This isn't integration. The people who have integrated successfully consciously stayed away from this group mentality and proactively merged into local life.