Neighbour has put up huge Unite the Kingdom flag

But if we had done Brexit properly we would all be millionaires and we would have no foreigners and no foreign laws, foreign goods, foreign foods and foreign companies.

The point is that all these people hanging racist flags and complaining about the "unprecedented immigration" are probably the same people who voted for Brexit and got us into this mess in the first place ...

I’ve read this stated about fifty million times. What is the actual point.

The Boris wave was entirely down to brexit.

Boris campained for brexit - promising us more money for the nhs and more control over our borders.... unfortunately both of these promises were lies.

While we were part of the EU other contries had a responsibility to take in a lot of immagrants, and France worked with the UK to police the small boats.

Now we've left the EU it has reduced our control over the boats crossing...

Brexit fundamentally altered UK immigration by ending free movement with the EU, which drastically reduced European migration but resulted in an overall increase in net migration due to a surge in arrivals from outside the EU.

This graph from the House of Commons Library shows the 'Boris Wave'.
I would call that massive and unprecedented immigration.

The rate of immigration has now gone down, but the people who entered the country are still here.

The problem is this: "I'm just pissed off at people with concerns at the recent massive and unprecedented levels of immigration being dismissed as 'racist'"

It's not massive or unprecedented, the media have done an AMAZING job of convinsing us that this is the problem, and the country is f*ed because of this.... it's not true. Labour have massively reduced the number of boats since they've been in power, but you don't see it reported in the news because that then goes againt the rhetoric that it's labours fault the country is on it's arse... not 14 years of tory mis-managment.

I know for most it is about the concern of immagration, and not a race issue, but flying a flag with "unite the kingdom" (a racist far-right campaign, set up by a racist white man) makes you racist by association.

I don't have a 'side'. Violent men unfortunately come in all shades of political opinion.

I'm just pissed off at people with concerns at the recent massive and unprecedented levels of immigration being dismissed as 'racist'. I now think anybody not 'racist' cares as little about the concerns of ordinary people in this country as anybody who's not 'transphobic' cares about ordinary women.

Great, how much do you bet?

Because I would be happy to point you to other threads where I have stated quite clearly that I think the protests should have been called off this weekend in solidarity with the Jewish community.

You can carry on making all the assumptions that you like, but some of us are as horrified by antisemitism as we are by any other form of racism.

Now, about that bet...

Given that one of the co-founders of the raise the colours had been arrested for racially aggravated assault, another has been charge with murder AND 21% of 949 people arrested for taking part in the Stockport "protests" have been since reported for crimes associated with domestic violence, what exactly are British culture and values you think your side are championing?

I presume the people taking down the stickers don't want large levels of immigration. And think that entering the country on small boats to deliberately bypass normal immigration checks should be a crime.

And think that if you redefine 'racism' to mean 'objecting to large numbers of people from cultures that are wholly incompatible with British culture and values' then they're quite happy to be 'racists', and are in favour of more 'racism'.

I presume the people taking down the stickers don't want large levels of immigration. And think that entering the country on small boats to deliberately bypass normal immigration checks should be a crime.

And think that if you redefine 'racism' to mean 'objecting to large numbers of people from cultures that are wholly incompatible with British culture and values' then they're quite happy to be 'racists', and are in favour of more 'racism'.

Not really sure how they're 'keeping the country running' any more than the rest of us, tbh. But let's say the flags aren't being put up for any reason in any way connected to racism - riddle me this. Since they started going up, near me, stickers have also gone up on the same lamp-posts, including Paddington Bear with the words 'immigration is not a crime', little pictures captioned 'we all live here together' and ones reading 'no to racism'. They get ripped down. The scraps of paper are all over the pavement (pride in our streets!). What possible message does tearing down a sticker saying 'no to racism' send, except, 'yes to racism'?

African countries have been pretty vocal about reparations.

The Swastika was an ancient Hindu symbol but was used to terrorise the Jewish population. They were told that they were not patriotic or even human if they did not respect the Swastika. Likewise a symbol that during the Olympics was one of national pride is being used by racists and charlatans to intimidate and terrorise immigrants and people of colour.

of course you can find some ethnic people who supported the UTK march, like there were Jewish people who supported the Nazis (usually the urban upper classes who thought that the Nazis would never come for them). Like there are working class people who supported Reform without looking at how they propose to sell off the NHS, massively cut benefits and workers rights to provide tax cuts for the rich and remove renters rights and any environmental protections.

Is flying a Union Jack racist now?

What’s the origin of the statement ‘unite the kingdom’?

“The same people who talk about equality are the first to sneer at anyone with an accent who dares to be proud of their country. They act superior while mocking the people who actually keep the place running” Never a truer word spoken!

I wouldn't put myself in a small, overfull boat to cross the Channel, so no, of course not. But that's a bit beside the point, because some men do bring wives and children (and some of them die). Are a few reckless of the safety of their children, hoping all to get to the UK at the same time, and the rest more careful?

You’re reading a lot into a flag on someone’s shed. The Union Jack stands for everyone who lives here. “Unite the Kingdom” is about pulling people together, not splitting them apart. It’s odd that a flag meant to include everyone now gets treated as a threat.
People need to start using their heads. The reaction to anything that has a certain name attached to it is always the same. If the wrong person once said it, it must automatically be racist or evil. That’s lazy thinking. You judge an idea by what it means, not by who said it.
The real issue is the contempt shown for ordinary working-class people. The same people who talk about equality are the first to sneer at anyone with an accent who dares to be proud of their country. They act superior while mocking the people who actually keep the place running.
Most people don’t hate living in a mixed society. They just think the way multiculturalism was managed hasn’t worked out the way it was promised. They see division growing everywhere and they’re tired of being told to keep quiet about it.
Nobody ever asks why these flags are going up. Do people really think there’s some hidden far-right movement behind them, or are they a signal from ordinary people who feel shut out and ignored? It’s frustration. It’s people saying they still belong here, even if nobody in power seems to want to hear it.
Those flags aren’t about hate. They’re about being pushed to the edges in your own country and finding one small way to be seen again.
If we ever want to pull this place together, we need to start listening to the people who have been written off for too long.

Why do you say “likely story”? There are plenty of parts of the UK that are overwhelmingly white. We’ve just moved from one, an affluent area on the NW English coast where you very, very rarely saw a brown or black face. Still had to wait weeks for medical appointments.
Another overwhelmingly white area is Herefordshire. You know, the place where that person who famously wants to live in a multicultural, integrated society, Honest Bob Jenrick, chooses to live (in one of his houses). In his particular village, 165 of the 166 residents at the last census were white.
Finny place to choose to live for someone who claims he doesn’t want to bring his children up in an ethnic ghetto.