İf you're against the anti immigration rhetoric in the news...

[Welikebeingcosy]

Will you join me in hanging a flag in solidarity of the people who make up our great diverse country?

I had an immigrant grandfather so I've just ordered a flag from that country to hang from my window, as well as one from the country my daughter was born in. Please note, this isn't an idea to vandalise anything or anywhere and hang flags from places other than our own homes. This also isn't an anti UK flag post, but rather, let's showcase all the backgrounds which make the UK what it is, including the UK flag.

Good points, @Uggbootsforever .
I also think about what the Spanish Empire did in Central and South America. The destruction of ancient civilizations, the greed, the enslavement, the unimaginable cruelty.

Is that what people are trying to do? I don't think they're going about it in the right way.

If you fly the English flag now (and possible the Union flag), unfortunately, you'll probably be associated with the mobs who threatened to burn down immigrant hotels. I'd definitely wait for a better time. The flags of Wales and Scotland might not carry the same connotations, though.

I like the idea of flying the smiley face flag. Or how about the peace flag?

It's nice to see the England flag deployed properly, at the women's rugby final.

I’m sure Putin will shit himself!

Brexit played into Putin's hands, and now the right-wing, flag-waving rioters are doing the same.

Mmm. Maybe some people flying the union flag/St George's cross agree with your last sentence. Or are you the only one allowed to have feelings about your country/family's country?

Off topic, and late BUT isn’t “against” and “anti” a double negative which means your FOR flags?

Bits of cloth? Try burning the Palestine flag, or the flag of Israel, or a Pride flag, film it and upload it to social media. See what kind of responses you get.

Any other flag burned will probably get laughs, which are still pretty bad, but I don't give that lot the space in my head.

The rioters make up a very very small % of people who think we need better immigration controls.

Can I ask the left leaning ‘terrified’ types on here; what immigration policies would you choose, if any, and how would you provide for the people arriving given we are in the dire straits and struggling to even house everyone as it is?

I won’t get an answer to that but I can ask

I've lived in two islamic countries and it isn't for me - why don't the muslim immigrants move to islamic countries - because they are corrupt and intolerant - why are they corrupt and intolerant?

Because they don't understand cause and effect. They've made their own country unpleasant, so they move to other countries that aren't like the one they've left behind, force you to acquiesce to their cultural sensitivities (usually by calling you racist) and then before long you get vast, tight-knit enclaves where none of them speak English or very little English (why would they while living among their own people?).

It seems performative and a waste of money tbh

OP do you think you can stomach flying the flag of the country you have adopted as your home?

Can you explain what you mean by "the left-wing 'terrified' types". I'm intrigued! I assumed some of the right-wing rioters were acting out of fear, not just aggression, but I don't think the lefties tend to be terrified of immigration.

I don't align myself with any party so you're probably not looking for a response from me, but I'd love to see us rejoin the EU. Overall, we'd be richer, stronger, less isolated, and have a say in the EU policies which affect us.
By the way, we saw FAR fewer unsafe migrant channel crossings when we were part of the EU. We used to have a much better relationship with France then and could work with them much more effectively.

Well for a start I would set up processing centres and /or an app which could be accessed from their own Countries. So they can apply before they make a dangerous expensive journey. Its not the whole answer but its got to be a big part of it.

Plus this is a global issue, and all Countries need to start working together to see how people might be supported to stay in their own Countries, cutting foreign aid doesn't help!

So we get more applications and more immigrants?

They don’t want to stay in their countries. People like the idea of a right wing country, and want everyone else to live by strict and oppressive religious rules, but like to except themselves. That’s why everyone has been marching for Gaza but the Islamic population of the UK say absolutely nothing about Afghanistan and the pure evil being imposed on the women.

Work effectively?! They're being paid half a billion £ per year and seem totally inept. They just want to pass on the problem.
France has been criticised by UNHCR because so many migrants/refugees/asylum seekers sleep rough. Mind you, their economy is tanking.

I’d probably hang up an Irish and English flag, but I associate more with the Union Jack. Where does it end?!

No, thanks. I'm an immigrant. I don't see how flying other flags is going to deal with anti-immigration rhetoric in the news - my neighbours have been flying non-British flags for years, and it hasn't stopped my area having Reform councillors. Really, it seems like a low energy, highly consumerist way to pretend to deal with an issue.

I should also say I'm not really bothered by the flags on lamp posts, the focus should be on the vile violence, not the flags.

You don't want me to fly a flag of the country which makes up the rest of my ethnicity?

Hanging up the flag of my country of origin would say absolutely nothing about my ethnicity. My nationalities do not equal my ethnic makeup. Equating the two is part of the issue.

Can I ask the left leaning ‘terrified’ types on here; what immigration policies would you choose, if any, and how would you provide for the people arriving given we are in the dire straits and struggling to even house everyone as it is?

There have been hundreds of changes to immigration laws over the last couple of decades that claimed to make things harder and all that's happened is rates of immigrations have risen and the 'private partners' that the government has outsourced parts of the immigration processing to have gotten richer. That's not working.

I do think any policies should focus on integration - the Life in the UK test supposedly brought in to help with that is absolutely BS, as is the ridiculous US-style oath/affirmation.

With how this and recent governments have been acting, yeah, the concerns about providing for everyone is valid. I don't have an answer, but I don't think Reform has the answers either. It'll likely involve policies and practices well beyond just immigration.

You talk about what the "United thing to do" is, whilst associating White council estate males with negative connotations. People like you, treating "White council estate" people as some sort of inferior under class and holding the attitude that you know better than the ignorant uneducated fools, even on the topic of their own communities, are the polar opposite of the caring, "inclusive" character you think you're portraying.
This attitude shown towards Brits from deprived communities is more akin to the one constantly attributed to them than anything else.

Why is it ok for you to show some British pride, but heaven forbid the lower class have any pride in their communities?

The classism in this country sickens me.

Nah! Someone put up a new flag in their garden in the street the other day.
I know to avoid them in future.

On the other hand , someone who has flown a flag for years has taken their down.

So you’re suggesting that it’s safe for them to stay in their own countries while they apply online for asylum? They're not so desperate that they have to flee without even picking up their ID? What do you think will happen to those who have their applications rejected, will they just stay put?

Don't be so disingenuous. It’s obvious that the reference is to those who are vocal online in expressing their fear of flags, and people who are protesting, and people who are calling for immigration controls, and the “rise of the far right” (otherwise known as people who aren’t as left wing as they are).

We have no idea how many people came before Brexit, because they did so in the back of lorries and didn’t get picked up and forced to claim asylum. That route was tightened, and lo and behold, the small boats came. Cooperation with France is largely irrelevant; we received more returns under Dublin III than we returned.

It might have been obvious to you who the left-wing 'terrified' types were, but I honestly had no idea and was looking back through the thread trying to find a post where someone said they were terrified, or similar.

So, you think that the number of immigrants arriving here outside the official channels hasn't necessarily changed, but their arrival has become much more obvious? In that case, maybe the decline in the UK's infrastructure over the last ten years has little to do with immigrants, it's just that people now have an obvious scapegoat to blame.

You mention that this country is struggling to house everyone - there are many contributing factors to this. For example, Brexit made actually it made it more difficult and more expensive to build and renovate houses in the UK by causing economic uncertainty, skills shortages and supply chain issues. This is a big deal, especially as there are as many as 700,000 empty properties in the UK, of which more than a third are classed as "long-term empty". But there are plenty of other factors, including the fact that some colossal estates of UK land are held by a small number of landowners, and we have planning laws which are arguably not fit for purpose.

Oh this is all so boring and irrelevant. The empty housing would solve less than 8% of the housing crisis. Let’s stop acting like supply and demand aren’t the main factors here.