Migrants get up to £2000 on bankcard after prison sentences

I dread to think how much it would have cost to have all the treatments /scans etc I've had to have this year if the NHS didn't exist. Yes, it's stretched at the point of entry if you need to get an appointment, but I've found them amazing if you end up needing them.
I've even noticed lately for the first time in absolute ages (years!) that there's extra appointments at ours and not as big a wait in the queue system. So it does seem to be slowly improving.
People are too quick to knock and complain.
An insurance based healthcare like the US would be a terrible idea, as people would just put off going to the doctors if they didn't have much money.

Or bus fare? Who the hells takes a taxi hundreds of miles, even if they have a decent income? It increasingly feels like Labour are trolling us.

The irony is that Judge Judy would also think this country and the government is off its rocker. She is a lady with common sense. A good republican.

I would never vote Reform, but scrapping the NHS is the one decent idea they have. Our health service is appalling and the quality of healthcare just about anywhere else in Europe is far better, including for those on lower incomes. (I can personally vouch for FR and CH).

The average Brit is a wildly ineffective comparator of heath systems ime, the only worthwhile criterion being “free” apparently. We need to stop the reverence, consider why nobody else in the world has an NHS (avoiding British exceptionalism) and copy the best bits of our European neighbours’ systems.

Zoom appointment or nothing.

You clearly are ill informed on the reality of being in temporary accommodation if you think this is realistic.

I work with people who have lived in hotels (both those born here and those seeking asylums because this isn't unique to immigration the way its painted). They are moved very frequently and its often difficult to get registered with a doctor and a dentist etc nearby. Never mind adding in challenges with language or people with additional needs who need help to complete the forms. If you don't have stable accommodation often people do end up either just not getting medical care or being stuck as they need to travel for it. In an ideal world what would happen is that asylum seekers would also be allowed to work so they could cover these types of costs. But they aren't allowed to so...

I think the problem is that the media is currently saturated with these types of programmes or articles etc and it's creating the illusion that immigration is a bigger problem than it actually is - particularly where seeking asylum is concerned.

Oh it’s quite real. If it was so easy to tax the big corporations and tax the rich, they’d already be doing it and we wouldn’t be in this huge economic mess.

The ‘middle’ is the backbone of the country as far as taxes and spending is concerned, but as that pool of people gets smaller, and the welfare state and illegal immigration gets bigger, money will run out. That is absolutely not rubbish. Then the country will be forced to move to austerity and cuts to public spending and welfare. And that’s where you see poverty. It’s just a matter of time. The next budget is going to take us one step closer.

I’d happily go to an insurance based health system. I pay way more in NI than I ever would on private healthcare, as does DH and we only have one child, who also pays NI.
I could get a bloody good policy for what I pay each month.

The NHS is also dreadful and not fit for purpose. I’m going deaf in one ear but can’t get an appointment with a GP around my work and have been advised that the wait time for an ENT appointment is years anyway. I can’t believe anyone would think that it doesn’t need reform.

I didn't realise it was a choice between a yawning poster on MN and Reform at the next election. She has my vote.

They’re not in Romania. They’re here, ergo our problem.

This is just nonsense…huge corporations paying no taxes ..,the scenario you posit just isn’t real

I think it's about being pragmatic though - ultimately people have the right to appeal against deportation and for very good reason. That's not something we want to lose in this country. Appeals can be very lengthy and therefore very costly. So to me this is a cost saving exercise to encourage someone to forego the process that would come into play if you tried to forcibly deport someone and have them go 'quietly' therefore saving money that can be used on the needs you've identified.

I think people start to roll their eyes a bit when people start talking about what is effectively a human right violation without seeming to have really considered what that would mean in a wider context. You're only seeing the £2k but because you're not seeing an equally tangible amount of savings it seems like it's wasted. When it isn't.

Are you American @Ihatetomatoes ?

Another reason I would never vote for them.. The NHS is amazing and I'm not about to vote to put it in danger.

Eventually the government will run out of money. They won’t be able to raise taxes any further and will have no choice but to reign in benefits. Only then, when there is no convenient middle to keep screwing, will people take note of this stupid shit.

By then of course, it will be too late and we’ll be a land with far worse poverty than we can ever imagine.

But, hey, we’ll be able to say we were nice to immigrants and criminals.

That’s a whole different issue. I’ve worked with the homeless. There are temporary spaces available for those who are homeless but they are generally in hostels with difficult people. Veterans on the street often have severe MH issues and addictions that make holding down accommodation difficult. I really don’t think this should be an either/or situation. We can help both. We need yo stop all the division.
But back on topic, unfortunately there will always be SOME immigrants who commit crime. Removal to their home country seems a lot more cost effective than remaining in the uk, paying for accommodation, benefits etc.

The taxi costs for asylum seekers is due to health care provision not moving with the individual when they move them across the country and isn't the norm

'According to The Sun, Home Office contractor Clearsprings Ready Homes spent nearly £350,000-a-month for 6,000 journeys at one firm.'

Right so why post about it?

I did watch it! They didn’t all get cards, just the ones who had agreed to go early!

They may be criminals but they had all come here legally, some had lived here for 10 years or more! Legally!

We go to poorer countries to recruit NHS and care staff…we are asking people to come here 🤦‍♀️