It’s time the world knew that Britain is not a land of milk and honey

[Dowser]

Then these migrant tragedies might be averted.
The uk is a fabulous place to live and I feel very privileged to have been born here and to still live here but it is not a cheap place to live and it can be very difficult to scratch a living.
My relative is now single and fallen on hard times. After a 6 month stint in a hostel which was hell on Earth, he’s now got a flat and on UC
I rang to see how he was doing the other day and was shocked to find he can’t pay his bills.i know last winter he didn’t put the heating on and ended up very sick
His rent is paid but even without heating on yet he’s already going under. Water rates are £45 a month..we pay half that for our house.
It’s an 8 month wait for a meter.

I mentioned food. He said he’s starving and has lost weight.
He’s 64 . His pension kicks In When he will be 67 . He’s unable to find a job and is constantly sick...when a short while ago before this happened he was as fit as butchers dog.
You can’t live on what you’re given he said. We live in a high unemployment area and there’s not a lot of jobs around for ageing 64 year olds with dodgy knees.

There's obviously a lot of lies and false hope being sold to people

Yes. How can you pay back £30,000, then make a profit, on a nail technician salary? How many years would that take you?

How can you pay back £30,000, then make a profit, on a nail technician salary?

Given that they are going to be “paid” (notionally) at well under minimum wage, and overcharged for sub-par accommodation, I imagine decades.

So how should we spread the message that the uk is shit?

Tv adverts, a leaflet drop, big signs at the boarder?

I do understand what you are saying op, but the problems your relation has won’t sway many illegal immigrants.
Not to belittle him at all but when you look at it he has a roof over his head and money from the state. I know it’s not enough to live on and he is struggling but it’s still more than a lot of people in the world have.

I'm always amazed to hear Brits complain about immigrants. how do they think English became a language used around the world? it happened as so many Brits thought somewhere else would be better. Even those shipped to whatever colony was the dumping ground at the time likely had the choice of "go or die".

I'm always amazed to hear Brits complain about immigrants. how do they think English became a language used around the world?

I love how some of the people who complain about immigrants love a curry and retire to Spain without a hint of irony.

A lot of economic migrants come from countries that don't have a welfare system.
But they do know, that the UK (and other western countries) have a welfare system. Sadly, they don't know that if you are an illegal immigrant, you don't have access to any type of state benefits. They don't know, that they will be working under the radar with no rights.
And yes, despite there being a welfare system, sadly, single people without depends but of working age, are the ones that are losing out. Especially if there isn't enough to go around.
(And that is, why ALL SHAPs should never completely rely on their partner. Working, building up a pension fund, buying a home .... are all things we can do to improve our chances.)

We have a huge amount of wealth here

That so many people are struggling is political not about a lack of money to be shared

We also have good feee healthcare (at times fantastic), free education, a welfare system, and we are a developed nation of course there is room for improvement but what we have others can only dream of

Many many countries do not - you many go on holiday and stay in plush hotels the surrounding area is well presented but outside that bubble it’s desperately poor - the poverty I saw in Vietnam children fighting over food, physically and mentally disabled children and adults living in temples relying on tourists donations for food and volunteers/family to look after them who can’t afford medical help, homes where a whole family live in two rooms. To see children fighting for food is the saddest thing I have ever witnessed

There are many countries that have similar levels of poverty (Vietnam is changing rapidly but not for all) and Europe, Canada, Australia and the US are naturally attractive.

My dad came from South Asia with nothing to start a better life here as so did all of one side of my family and still cousins in South Asia that’s their dream

Most people do not immigrate from other countries with the belief that once they arrive in the UK they will be entitled to benefits/handouts as many people seem to think they do. They immigrate for new opportunities, jobs and safety that they cannot get in their own country. That includes both legal and illegal immigrants.

. Working, building up a pension fund, buying a home .... are all things we can do to improve our chances

And how do you propose care workers factory workers supermarket workers do all this,. And dont say get a better paid job because these jobs still need to be done by someone.

Apple. Completely agree. My mum spent 50 years working in factories after coming here from Italy.

Why would this poster be kidding? Do you think the 9000 deaths attributed to fuel poverty last winter is a laughing matter? Do you think that's acceptable in a so called wealthy country? Or the other 30,000 'excess winter deaths'? NHS wasn't much use to those people was it. And that's every year. But those victims are old and British so not a trendy enough cause I guess. Certainly don't ever see threads on here discussing those outrageous statistics or people marching on the streets in protest. I think it's very easy to downplay poverty in the UK when it doesn't affect you

Of course I don’t think it’s a laughing matter and don’t assume that poverty in the UK hasn’t affected me. The point I disagree with is that the person I replied to said that being poor here is just as hard as being poor in a poor country. I entirely disagree. We have access to sanitation, education, healthcare regardless of wealth. We have a benefits system to help people, we have social housing. I’m not saying that poor people here don’t live tough lives but in no way can you compare someone living in poverty here to someone living in poverty in somewhere like India or Brazil

illegal migrants are a problem throughout the EU. Not just a British problem. 100k+ discovered cases in Germany each yr.

HelenaDove - that is why I said " ... things we can do to improve our chances! "
And sometimes it is about choices. It's what you decide to do with the money you earn.
And yes, if you are able to, find a better paid job.

I wouldn’t worry _@Dowser. The uk has been very good recently at pairing itself as a country that is NOT welcoming at all.
You certainly won’t see nearly as many Eu citizens coming over. A shame they are also the doctors, nurses, fruit pickers etc.... the uk desperately need

FWIW, some of the people you are talking about had family and friends in the uk. That’s what attracted them.

Fucks sake OP, of course poverty is relative. Why shouldn't people seek a better life? Look at the state of the world, look at the amount of human beings, despite huge suffering, try to do better. UK is Rich in world terms. What's your actual problem here?

@Shalom23. I'm not sure being an illegal immigrant is a better life though is it?

If they are lucky enough to make it alive into the UK they end up trafficked into fucking prostitution or into slave labour. It's tragic.

Why shouldn't people seek a better life?

It’s not that they shouldn’t seek to better their life. But, we can’t let human traffickers sell false dreams of a better life. This poor girl lost her life in a horrific way because too many people looked the other way, either because they were paid off (likely) or because they had bleeding hearts.

Sorry if this has already been Said.

*But why is it the UK? Do these traffickers offer the same to different countries?

France,Germany,Poland,Norway,Denmark

Why here? Surely these other countries are easier to get to as well?*

1. English language. English is an official language in many former colonies, plus if anyone speaks a second or third language (as most of the world does) it’s going to be English - not French, German etc.

1. No ID cards.

1. A thriving illegal cash economy with plenty of opportunities to work cash in hand.

1. A “free at the point of care” state health service that (Up until now) is very easy to access.

That’s why the UK is preferred to other European countries. The UK could do something about all of these, except number 1, but it chooses not to.

Well I Apologise for posting and running. I got busy and then I got sick.

Thanks to everyone who posted balanced views.
No, I’ve never lived in any other country and I’ve never visited a developing country either so haven’t seen first hand what life is like in those countries.

Pink boa ,yes I will be helping my relative as will his children.
I also will be helping my son and his family who lost his job on Sunday.
More stress and worry there
I also donate to charity, fundraisers, homeless etc
Why wouldn’t I if I can afford it?
I hate to see suffering which is why I posted in the first place.
It’s just sad to think that people who survive this perilous journey may be swapping one lot of bad situations for another. Which from what I’ve read on this thread could well be the case..

STOP. VOTING. TORY.

OP - there is poverty in the U.K.

But compared to many other countries the U.K is like heaven.

I am always amazed at people complaining in the U.K.

I have been to volunteer in an orphanage in romania where a little girl told me that, she was unwanted, her mother beat her with a shovel and put her into a coma in hospital and the orphanage rescued her. All of the children in that orphanage told me how they were unwanted and beaten.

I have volunteered in a refugee camp, where a man from syria told me that he had a masters degree and a good job, and all of that changed, and suddenly he was seeing people being beheaded left and right, and his family being killed.

I have been to Asia , India and Thailand, where I saw starving women being prostitutes for fat, disgusting old white men, they had to do this to feed their children. I saw the skinniest women and babies that I have ever seen in my life in India.

I saw people in india who had their arms cut off by gangs to make them better beggers. They would get more sympathy because they were disabled.

The world is very cruel, it annoys me when I see people who complain in England. We have it much better than the majority of the world.

We are not fearful for our lives.

"The world is very cruel, it annoys me when I see people who complain in England"

Jesus what you posted was horrific

But following the same logic would it then be okay to tell the woman at No 8 Joe Bloggs Road who is being emotionally and verbally abused by her partner that she doesnt have it so bad and should be grateful because the woman at No 14 Joe Bloggs Road is being physically abused so things could be much worse.

No one would dream of pitting two women going through these two scenarios against each other. Or would they?

STOP. VOTING. TORY.

This. In spades. Tories have created a system designed to punish and ultimately kill the poor, disabled and vulnerable of our society. With a GE announced today, people need to consider issues like this when they vote.

If she's earning £1800 she won't be doing nails, let's face it.

I'd say the NHS and riding on the tailcoats of our previous Empire is a big selling point to many migrants - only when they get here they realise its not so rosy

Oh yeah, and do stop voting Tory.