Immigrants but legal ones?

JFC, the racist couple look like the illustrations in a Roald Dahl book. They give Mr and Mrs Twit a run for their money in the hideousness stakes. What appalling racist fuckwits they are. How they think they are superior to anyone is baffling. I hope they are found and arrested.

My great greats fled the same and ended up in the states. A couple generations later and I ended up in Scotland. I thought this was a sign of progression as a continent that was unwelcoming to my ancestors was open for me but I’m not entirely sure that’s right anymore.

My husband and I are (white) Americans who immigrated to Scotland 20 years ago. We aren’t Scottish, but we aren’t really American either. I’m also Jewish. We’ve had a handful of unpleasant experiences for either reason lately.

I have no idea how to calculate if we are ‘takers’ or ‘contributors’ but we’ve worked full time, paid our taxes, spent many holidays and most of our money in the UK. I spend my free time volunteering at the school library and the local food bank. I do sometimes feel pressure to be the best possible version of myself of myself to justify my space here - as either a Jewish person or an immigrant - but I am feeling it more every year and it’s not a great feeling. This thread isn’t really making me feel better about it.

I do agree that the British and particularly the English don't blow their own trumpet enough - but that needs to be directed positively. I'm Dutch - I'm not particularly proud of my Dutchness for the sake of it, but I recognise that my country has done some really good stuff, most recently being the first to bring in marriage equality and also being at the forefront of the right to die. We're also particularly good at some sports, so I will cheer for that at Olympics, World Championships and so on.

The English and British have plenty to be proud of: The Lionesses, the women's rugby team (and ironically English men are the worst for slating these fantastic atheletes...) but also advances in AI and high grade engineering. And of course sausages - I can honestly say that the English do sausages better than anyone else in the world.

So instead of being racist and slating immigrants, brag a bit more about all the things that the English are great at.

As a foreigner, I don't understand this. There is much to be proud of in being English. Great literature, poetry, music, castles, ruins, parks, countryside, museums, history, London's walking culture, a keen love of animals, the welfare state... I am not very keen on suet puddings but trying to lap up the rest!

Not every foreigner is here to scam the state. It's true that many are here because of our common language, and sometimes common history.

It goes back a lot further than that. George Orwell nailed it more than 70 years ago...

England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God save the King than of stealing from a poor box.

We really do have an enemy within.

It's almost as if 1930's Germany is easily forgotten

I agree with a PP that for the past few years, Brits have been constantly admonished for being colonial slave traders who are fat, lazy and with shit food. They are told there is nothing to be proud of.

When I was growing up ( daughter of immigrants) all my friends and I felt very British and “patriotic”. We might have rolled our eyes at some stuff, but ultimately it was with a sense of fondness.

I think for our national “wellbeing”, we need to stop beating ourselves up about things that happened in the past. There was and is a lot about Britain that is fantastic (including well cooked British food). Having travelled extensively, I don’t think “foreign”
is vastly superior to British cuisine ( I enjoy all types of food btw 🤣)

We can learn from other cultures, and that’s why living in London is so interesting, but equally Britishness can also be embraced.

The Nazis didn't start with the Gas Chambers there was a gradual escalation. Read some history books.

With charm like that have you thought of a career in sales? 😂

There is nothing to pick apart. Those are the issues racists have with immigrants. It doesn't matter if they're allowed to be here or not. If someone is against immigration, it will be against all immigrants.

I agree that there is currently a lot of xenophobia in other countries too. I didn’t see the point in mentioning it because many PPs have already done so and anyway, the OP is about Britain.

Telling me to read history books sounds kind of aggressive and dismissive and is shutting down discussion. A more constructive and respectful comment would be “I don’t think the comparison works because ……”

No, it's not. But it explains Brexit. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Farage isn't a genius, it's just that he's surrounded by rank idiocy on either side of the political divide. We are going to get a reform government, just like we got brexit and all those morons will stand there the morning after, blinking into the sunlight, wondering how they didn't see it coming when it's been written in sky high letters for decades. The British people were never consulted about this level of immigration and they have been saying consistently since 2004 that they don't want it.

That’s not the fault of the people who came here following those rules though.

Stupidity. If it was true, they voted believing that the health service and other business would collapse by deporting vital foreign worker's.
A coworker ATT placed a €1000 bet on brexit. I thought he had lost his money. I couldn't believe the vote.
I miss a lot of the UK shops in Ireland, Newlook, argos, shoe zone.

This is all true, apart from in the UK. Points 2 and 3 were never adopted, mainly because we couldn't make them work without ID cards to assess who should no longer be here. So anyone could come over and stay over and they did and have. The British people have been let down by successive British governments of both blue and red variety who couldn't be arsed to put the necessary mechanisms in place to make sure that the rules on FOM could be followed. It was a free for all and it is what led to Brexit.

So much to pick apart.

In my job I work with teenagers - immigrants and British.

In the vast majority of cases, immigrants work way harder than the 'British' teens. They are the ones requiring loads of support to prop their low ambition and work ethic.

Not all Brits, of course, but always Brits

It shouldn't be about identity. It should be pride built on a hopeful message that we'll get real growth back and a sense of perspective. Right now, everything seems to be going to shit, especially public services, and for some people the only thing they feel they have left - and that no one could take from them- is their identity as (insert tribe). This will have tragic consequences, especially if we are stupid enough to bring to power a party that will compound the issues rather than address them.

Do you genuinely feel this matters?
Citizenship doesn't change the amount of tax someone pays

I think you might be right. Sneaky fuckers.

Honestly the only people I ever see moaning about how hated the English are, are the English themselves. People (including my own partner) are dead set on this idea that everyone hates them - hell, every year we all have to hear about the nonstop Eurovision pity party.

I don’t have the solution nor do I understand where this woe is me attitude came from, but the government should really put some focus on creating some sort of identity pride that doesn’t fall into racism and xenophobia.

I hope she gets some justice as this shouldn't go unpunished. Those people are an absolute disgrace. The puke emoji was invented for them.

Yes, let's not compare it to 1930s Germany!
Xenophobia and knee jerk nationalism is indeed on the rise everywhere. It's always easy to blame others.

I agree.
There was snippets of racism throughout the article.
It was disgusting. Awful thick witch and her thicko husband.
The level of racism is off the scale. My face is sore from smiling and saying hello to non nationals trying to counteract the horror, reassure them that I'm safe.
Ffs.
It's getting dangerous calling out racism, it's also between different nationalities.
I had to interrupt an EE man for being abusive to the Indian girl working in the corner shop, he was drunk, scary, luckily it is a close community.

Xenophobia and racism exists in every country. I’ve experienced a lot of racism from people from different countries, but nothing compares to how the Nazis treated Jewish people. Maybe read some history books.