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AIBU?

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Original poster

Are these people really British?

237 replies

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 14:07

In 1688, foreign strangers were arriving on British shores daily. The locals complained of despoilment of their environment. Londoners complained that French was everywhere, and not a word of English could be heard spoken! The French immigrants were denigrated either for being too poor, thus a drain on rate-paying parishioners, or too prosperous, at the expense of local merchants and business owners.

(Taken from Thou Savage Woman by Blessin Adams, great book!)

That sounds exactly like what I hear the media saying about immigrants now! So when the far right are making sure that Britain is for the British, shall they make sure we all trace our lineage back to the 1600s, and make sure no descendents of those awful French immigrants count as British?

OP posts:
Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:38

Limecar · 21/07/2026 16:32

She s desperate to start calling people racist. Bigot got deleted so she's now goading for racist.

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PP is welcome to answer me. Maybe she's copying ChatGPT's response right now

OP posts:
Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:34

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:31

Ok....I don't expect you to answer for someone else, you've inserted yourself into the conversation. I'll wait for the person i was actually speaking to

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Inserted myself into a conversation on a public forum? How awful, much worse than someone inserting their barbaric 'culture' into our country.
Try and be more welcoming and inclusive OP.

Ethelspagetti · 21/07/2026 16:33

aliasfrog · 21/07/2026 16:06

Hello, illegal immigrants can't claim benefits. I know because I am a benefit assessor. You can only claim if you have indefinite leave to remain as an immigrant which takes minimum 5 years of living and working here plus thousands of ££ spent on the visas and nhs surcharge.

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Yes that’s right. They get the right to stay then we help them apply for benefits with UC sometimes PIP. I know this because I’m a translator and help them apply.

Limecar · 21/07/2026 16:32

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:30

I can't answer you for the previous poster, but if you really think that skin colour is the only possible factor, then frankly you're being a bit thick.

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She s desperate to start calling people racist. Bigot got deleted so she's now goading for racist.

Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:31

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:30

I can't answer you for the previous poster, but if you really think that skin colour is the only possible factor, then frankly you're being a bit thick.

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Ok....I don't expect you to answer for someone else, you've inserted yourself into the conversation. I'll wait for the person i was actually speaking to

OP posts:
Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:30

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:27

I asked, I'm waiting for an answer

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I can't answer you for the previous poster, but if you really think that skin colour is the only possible factor, then frankly you're being a bit thick.

Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:28

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

I think you've become confused, where did I say that

OP posts:
Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:27

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:26

🙄 yeah of course op, because they were white. Thats the only possible answer, isn't?

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I asked, I'm waiting for an answer

OP posts:
MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 21/07/2026 16:27

I presume that those who want to keep Britain for the British will all be prepared to prove that they have 100% undiluted Celtic ancestry? I reckon I'm about 3/4 Celtic but about 1/4 Anglo-Saxon, so does that mean I'll be deported to Denmark or Germany or somewhere?

I guess I'll just have to hope that my Anglo-Saxon homeland will accept my Celtic bits? Otherwise I'm fucked!

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:26

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:23

The origins of current arrivals?

Because French people are (more often) white?

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🙄 yeah of course op, because they were white. Thats the only possible answer, isn't?

millymollymoomoo · 21/07/2026 16:26

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:23

floppybit · 21/07/2026 16:21

I really don’t think you can compare some French people arriving back then with the quantity and origins of current arrivals. It’s obviously not completely changed your street, your town in the way it has mine in the last couple of years. Im not anti immigration, but what has happened to my area recently is unprecedented and on an industrial scale.

The origins of current arrivals?

Because French people are (more often) white?

OP posts:
Hyperion100 · 21/07/2026 16:21

I dont think the state was spending the equivalent of 5 billion quid a year on them though were they.

floppybit · 21/07/2026 16:21

I really don’t think you can compare some French people arriving back then with the quantity and origins of current arrivals. It’s obviously not completely changed your street, your town in the way it has mine in the last couple of years. Im not anti immigration, but what has happened to my area recently is unprecedented and on an industrial scale.

RobinHumphries · 21/07/2026 16:17

I’m a descendant of one of those awful French immigrants - to make matters worse we think he was an illegal immigrant (well we like to speculate that because there is no record of him entering the country and it winds my mum up)

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:17

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:13

Do you not think your quote about the Huguenots from The Huguenot Society may be a little biased and not likely to discuss the negative responses to their migration?

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Well I certain think you're bias seeing as you failed to mention the public's financial support. Why was that? Didn't paint the right (goady) picture of us all being horrible racists?

JimBobsWife · 21/07/2026 16:17

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 16:12

Who is then ?

And where does the UK sit in relation to them ?

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Populations across sub-Saharan Africa hold significantly higher and deeper genetic diversity. Despite migration figures being high, people born in central, southern and eastern England form a fairly uniform genetic cluster.

ClovisWrites · 21/07/2026 16:16

I think it's a bit of a disingenuous analogy. It's too simplistic to be either for all, or against all, immigration. The volume / the numbers has a huge impact on how it impacts the existing population, and also how culturally similar or different they are. E. g. ten families from Saudi Arabia moving into an English village will obviously integrate less successfully then one family from Ireland.

Original poster
glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 16:13

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:09

What a load of bollocks.

'The Huguenots were highly skilled artisans, merchants, and professionals. Because many arrived destitute, they were initially supported by public collections and later by the Royal Bounty established by joint monarchs William and Mary in 1689. 1, 2, 3]'

How does that compare to young unskilled men from Pakistan, for example, where there is no war or persecution to face and have a very different view of women and girls then we (and the French) do?

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Do you not think your quote about the Huguenots from The Huguenot Society may be a little biased and not likely to discuss the negative responses to their migration?

OP posts:
SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 16:12

JimBobsWife · 21/07/2026 16:10

No they are not.

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Who is then ?

And where does the UK sit in relation to them ?

JimBobsWife · 21/07/2026 16:10

lightseeker · 21/07/2026 14:18

Maybe Reform voters should all be forced by law to send in a DNA sample to Ancestry.com?

The British are one of the most mixed nationalities on earth.

No they are not.

Naunet · 21/07/2026 16:09

glitterpaperchain · 21/07/2026 14:07

In 1688, foreign strangers were arriving on British shores daily. The locals complained of despoilment of their environment. Londoners complained that French was everywhere, and not a word of English could be heard spoken! The French immigrants were denigrated either for being too poor, thus a drain on rate-paying parishioners, or too prosperous, at the expense of local merchants and business owners.

(Taken from Thou Savage Woman by Blessin Adams, great book!)

That sounds exactly like what I hear the media saying about immigrants now! So when the far right are making sure that Britain is for the British, shall they make sure we all trace our lineage back to the 1600s, and make sure no descendents of those awful French immigrants count as British?

What a load of bollocks.

'The Huguenots were highly skilled artisans, merchants, and professionals. Because many arrived destitute, they were initially supported by public collections and later by the Royal Bounty established by joint monarchs William and Mary in 1689. 1, 2, 3]'

How does that compare to young unskilled men from Pakistan, for example, where there is no war or persecution to face and have a very different view of women and girls then we (and the French) do?

Huguenot Society :: Blog

https://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/blog/the-royal-bounty-archive-unveiled

aliasfrog · 21/07/2026 16:09

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 16:08

Facts really don't go down well in threads like this.

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Ah ok, I'll go do something else then!

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 16:08

aliasfrog · 21/07/2026 16:06

Hello, illegal immigrants can't claim benefits. I know because I am a benefit assessor. You can only claim if you have indefinite leave to remain as an immigrant which takes minimum 5 years of living and working here plus thousands of ££ spent on the visas and nhs surcharge.

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Facts really don't go down well in threads like this.

aliasfrog · 21/07/2026 16:06

Ethelspagetti · 21/07/2026 15:55

That’s silly. My grandparents came from another country. I’m voting for reform because I deeply appreciate the migrant workers we need, but do not want to fund illegal immigrants. I work with illegal immigrants and some are good and grateful wanting a job, but most ask for benefits and a free home and won’t work. I have witnessed it.

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Hello, illegal immigrants can't claim benefits. I know because I am a benefit assessor. You can only claim if you have indefinite leave to remain as an immigrant which takes minimum 5 years of living and working here plus thousands of ££ spent on the visas and nhs surcharge.

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