Immigrants but legal ones?

I'm so sorry you've experienced such appalling treatment, @banananas1999 . It's especially appalling coming from doctors imo.

I have absolutely no problem with you being here and imagine you contribute to society, quite possibly a lot more than some natives. I would assume your VISA was approved because you had skills we wanted and we should be glad you filled the skills gap. However, we should be making sure our own people have the skills so we don’t need as much legal migration - that’s a health of the country thing, not a problem with those who take the opportunity to answer the call. You’ve been here 16 years, you should definitely be able to become a British citizen.

I have a massive issue with illegal immigration - the number should be zero. I want the UK to be selective about the sort of cultures and attitudes that come in, and to ensure it is hard-working, law-abiding people, to increase the odds of successful integration and so legal migrants such as yourself don’t get tarred with the same brush as those with backward attitudes by the ignorant. There are many people who are ignorant and putting our fingers in our ears and going la la la won’t make those people disappear. I believe secure borders are essential to any country in any case. I don’t know why people assume I’m racist because of this. I don’t care about colour at all.

Genuine asylum seekers fleeing war… I would have said we should help in the past, but we have so many genuinely poor working native people now who can’t get a roof over their head, although so much of this could well be due to terrible economic mismanagement. Just not sure what I think on that issue.

Would I vote Reform? Unless other parties get as ready to tackle this issue as Reform, I probably would. They have no economic credibility though so therein lies the rub.

Just in case you’re wondering, I voted Remain as there was no plan for Brexit and look at the half-assed, expensive way it has been done so I don’t regret my vote, although I’ve always been against the EU in principle (although it did have great benefits).

I think the two biggest letdowns on this issue has been the political class and the media. They are the cause of much unnecessary public anger.

UK is still aiding genocides in other countries

Thats a pretty big accusation.

Can you list the countries we have bombed recently and how that corresponds with the motivations for leaving of the ‘asylum’ applicants?

I’ve just checked the answers on the MoD website.

I’m not an immigrant to Britain and even I feel unsafe with the current rhetoric. I can only imagine how you are feeling.

Just know not everybody (even those with concerns about the scale of immigration) shares in the vitriol.

Genuine question, as my professional background influences how I see asylum seekers, and I'd like to understand how others do.
The sentiments above seem to be extremely common.
Legal migration = no problem
'Illegal' migration (i.e. asylum seeking) = big problem that must be stopped.

All the people that say they're happy with legal immigration but not with 'illegal' immigration, are you saying that if we could reduce immigration by 16% (the percentage of immigrants that are asylum seekers), you'd be happy?

Or are you unaware of the proportions of legal and irregular migration are what they are, and you'd really like immigration in general to go down much more than this?

Couldn't we phase out our current practices for recruiting the lower-skilled immigrant workforce we need and instead recruit legitimate asylum seekers for those jobs? We'd give people in desperate need a safe home while keeping immigration numbers at a manageable level. A lot of the anger against asylum seekers seems to be the 'free lunch' 'they don't even work' stuff, but I've never met an asylum seeker who isn't keen to start work as soon as the govt allows them to. (On a side note, the free lunch in hotels is a pretty awful lunch that is leaving many children malnourished.) The problem is that they can't work until the govt makes a decision to accept them as refugees, and they can't be accepted as refugees unless they come her by irregular and often dangerous means. The govt could change that.

This is so sad.

I think it must be awful to be Israeli, or even Jewish, and be horrified by the war, or rather genocide. 7 Oct was completely beyond excuse but since then most of the blame belongs to a certain sector of the Israeli government, military and society.

I see red when some of them spout their nonsense in the media but tarring all Jewish people with their views and actions is contemptible.

I am sorry

What are your views on Yaxley-Lennon? Do you think he is racist?

The UK takes 1% of refugees. Mass migration isn’t the cause of working class problems

I feel the same OP. I've been in the UK for over 2 decades, paying tax, contributing to society, but this anti-migrant discourse is causing me a great deal of stress. In turns I am angry, sad, and terrified.

Angry because:

Migrants on average pay a lot more tax than the average UK-born person. So we are disproportionately funding the exchequer, yet are treated like we're parasites.

Migrants on average are young, childless, and economically-active taxpayers. So much less likely to need the NHS. Yet we are required to pay a yearly NHS surcharge of £1500 (£700 for students). So we are disproportionately funding the NHS.

Migrants do the jobs UK-born don't or won't do, particularly agricultural, health-care, low-paid careworkers.

Those of you on Mumsnet constantly moaning about migrants: who do you think is picking your fruit & veg? Who is going to wipe your bum when you're in a care-home or need adult social care?

We migrants make a net positive contribution to this country. How do you think it makes us feel to be constantly demonized by the press and in these threads? It sucks.

I’m not saying left wing propaganda should be taught in schools. I’m saying facts should be taught and misinformation corrected. If you have a problem with that then you are the propagandist

I’m sure most people with accents have the intelligence to spot polite chit chat and not feel offending or ‘othered’. We can’t erase all evidence of Britishness to stop everyone across the world feeling othered by our existence.

I’ve stopped an entire pub in Glasgow (well it felt like it) with my English accent - I knew I was not Glaswegian, they knew I was not Glaswegian - why should they have to pretend otherwise?

The truth is mass migration affects working class people more than anyone else. This is why you get white liberal middle class twits who call people racist ect when they live in their own little suburban bubbles. We are allowed to speak on our experiences and not be told we are racist. They probably don't want to upset thier cleaners 🙄.

What are your views on the many young men entering Britain via small boat?

The left wing are currently every bit as racist as the right wing. Being Jewish is extremely unpleasant in the UK at the moment. I don’t feel safe here anymore and I hide the fact that I’m Jewish when I first meet anyone new. I assume being Israeli must be really dangerous in some areas.

We don't need anymore left wing propaganda being taught to our children at school thank you.

Try posting something less hyperbolic and ridiculous then.

Yes I agree.

And when I say anti immigration; that is what I mean. Anti net high migration. Anti mass migration.

Our history lessons are odd. I don’t know whether part of that is that most history is quite age inappropriate. Ie. Death, slavery, wars etc. Most history is not nice history. But yes they should look at that.

I’m very sorry you feel this way. There is a lot of ignorance around immigration and right wing populists are exploiting this to stir up hatred and division. We need a strong push on education and stopping the spread of misinformation. It won’t stop the racists of course who will always hate regardless of the truth but we can turn back to a more enlighted nation.
It important to point out that the immigrants in hotels are not illegal immigrants. They are asylum seekers who have not yet been processed. If their claim for asylum is rejected and they abscond before deportation then they become illegal immigrants.

Rowan Williams (Former Archbishop of Canterbury, former Master of Magdelene College, Cambridge, Lord Williams of Oystermouth) has an excellent piece in the Guardian today.

It focuses on asylum seekers but the broader theme is how scarcity tends to bring out the worst in us all, from whatever position in society we hold and whatever our philosophical beliefs may be. Lord Williams believes that the only long term solutions to the immigration crisis will evolve from focusing on our common humanity.

This may make him sound like a pushover. He isn’t. The article is complex and thoughtful.

I am sure this will get me attacked and called a right wing racist because apparently that sort of hate speech is perfectly acceptable,. I hate what is happening in this county right now, the boats, hotels amount of money being spent, but I would say the majority of people have absolutely no issues with legal immigration. Governments have not listened to the people which is why things have got so out of control. I can honestly say hand on heart i have no issues with legal immigration and I am sorry this is now affecting people like yourself who have done everything right and are an asset to the country. I work with people who were not born in Britain. Some east European some are from Africa and like me they all work their asses off and their taxes go towards paying for all this, there are enough layabouts already who make living off benefits a career choice. That needs sorting too but that's another thread

Some areas of the country have gone to shit. That’s the problem, it’s a very unequal nation. Unfortunately, but inevitably, most immigrants will settle in cheaper - ie poorer - areas. Which makes those areas struggle even more in terms of housing, public services etc. And the people in those areas are already struggling. So immigrants are an “easy” target.

Well said @IceLollyMolly
That twerp does not speak for most of us.
you sound great and congratulations to your son too.

I'm perfectly happy with high skills migration. The trouble with being in the EU anyone could migrate, those without skills. The EU was meant to be a trading block no one wanted mass migration.

I see your comment has been deleted @RedMaker but I don't really believe that most of the British people I encounter don't want me here. I have felt pretty welcome, as I have said many times. I have been invited to British people's homes, weddings and other celebrations. They didn't have to do that.

As for the UK changing, of course. I will deal with that when it happens, as most do. Threatening me is really pointless. I don't scare easy, no matter how hard you try. Have dealt with worse.

You clearly don't want me here, but you are a stranger on the net. Some others may not either. Again, I have followed the rules and that's all I can do..If rules change, I think again.

@Chickenbone123 in order to have this vision, you need to change the system.

Teach languages, ensure that especially social and health care are jobs which are valued and paid sufficiently.

But also realise that the world is smaller and more mobile, movement means knowledge exchange as well.
The issue is not immigration, it's that net-immigration is too high.

When I lived in my home country, the UK was always seen as aloof and a country who thought itself as being better than the rest of Europe (as in the continent, not just the EU).
When I arrived here I was astonished how easy it was to find a job based on the fact that I speak another language fluently, I know some of my UK colleages earn more because they speak another language.

I was definitely concerned with the very narrow history curriculum in school, yes it's important to learn the own country's past but there is so much more than the Tudors and Victorians.