Has immigration enriched the UK through greater cultural and culinary diversity?

[HonestFox]

When it has bought so many different cultures and food into the U.K. so why is there so much hatred towards it?

I think you’ve missed my point there.

I am massively pro-immigration, in part because of the contribution it makes in areas like the health service, but there is no denying that successive governments have done almost nothing to grow the infrastructure of this country to take account of the growing population, cheered on my the NIMBY majority.

There are areas where the rapid population growth caused by immigration has put pressure on housing, schools etc. That just isn’t controversial and was totally in our power to do something about.

I’m not ‘massively pro’, but I agree with what you said. My closest friend is the daughter of an immigrant who came to the UK in the 1950s. He worked and integrated, and to me, the important issue is integration. We are seeing generations in some areas who haven’t integrated.

Bringing cultures from home countries is normal, but shouldn’t be retained when they don’t align with the culture of one’s chosen country. Too many areas now have little or no resemblance to Western culture, where women are still not equal. Why do we still see full face coverings? They are not a religious necessity. Honour killings FFS. Thousands of Roma (not Romanian) in a city not far from me, fighting on the streets, issues in the schools, overcrowded houses, the local hospital is swamped, and the police have set up in a house in the area due to ongoing issues of anti social behaviour. How is that an enhancement to the UK?

It’s now time the government did a big recruitment drive for lots of temporary immigration caseworkers to clear the asylum backlog, and follow up on those who are overstaying illegally. There are graduates seeking work, this could be a fill in for some, perhaps leading to permanent roles for others.

Not all immigrants are equal.

The office I work in is full of immigrants: French, Mexican, Brazilian, Russian & Turkish.

All net contributors, integrated into schools, sports club, communities etc.

Elsewhere there are entire entities/industries propped up by immigrants, presumably making immigration a necessity although in truth I don’t know why jobs cannot be done by citizens, is it just a lack of numbers? Or quality of qualifications?

Then there are communities of immigrants who do not want to integrate and in fact want the opposite: to impose their culture, laws and ideals on the current majority. I do not believe this is a positive and I object to the inevitable insinuation that I am racist for pointing it out.

There’s good immigration and bad immigration. Good immigrants and bad immigrants.

We need to have a good discussion about what is what, and align our policies accordingly.

I’m generally very pro immigration (done right). But there is so much confusion and double-speak about what immigration is for, how much, who, that we are turning what can be a very positive and necessary thing into another fiscal millstone to hang around our neck, and turning the public against the whole idea.

What 1 day said

Controlled immigration in numbers which means the new commers to want and need to integrate. It's unfathomable we have older ladies who have spent most of their lives here with no basic understanding of English and I imagine our laws!

Most people want some immigration but our choosing like new Zealand and australia and Canada ,strict laws on skills and only taking people with skills we need.

do you embrace FGM, cousin marriage?! Immigrants are people, there are good people and bad people, there are parts of cultures that are enhancing to Britain and those that are detrimental and set us back. The blanket idea that immigration is wonderful is rubbish.
The huge increase in population over the last 10years has not been overall beneficial imo- the windrush generation hugely beneficial to the UK. The problem is it’s a Ponzi scheme, keep bringing more people in to help with the older generation, we just have a larger immigration to support in 30years time.
Has the UK massively fallen behind in providing infrastructure and resources yes- but a 10million increase in housing could never happen even with the best government.
Migrants may not come here for benefits but there are benefits to living in the UK, and we don’t need to pretend they don’t draw people.
A fair immigration policy with a forward thinking outlook is what we need.

@DancingNotDrowning “although in truth I don’t know why jobs cannot be done by citizens, is it just a lack of numbers? Or quality of qualifications?”

Unless you’re talking about unique skills, like elite footballers, the answer is almost always because it’s cheaper – expand the labour pool by including migrants as well as citizens, and you keep wages down. That’s what I meant by the harm to the working classes, who relied on that bargaining power to keep society in balance. Mass migration has wrecked that social deal.

It’s so profoundly immoral that we’ve made up a whole swathe of alternative moralities—openness, tolerance, the richness of diversity—in order not to have to look at the harm done just so we could keep costs down.

I'm not defending it at all. My point is that many people try to pretend that we've always been some sort of utopia and never shared the backward views of other countries.

IMO I think the horse has bolted. We have allowed far too many people into the country, especially ones that bring nothing decent to society.

My sister is very left wing and believes in open borders, she just doesn’t understand my concerns. Often calling me right wing and the like, I’m not, I just want somewhere safe to bring up my children.

My hometown council last year spent just over £250k on translators alone, and that’s just one cost. It’s all too much.

I do find it funny that people think that the only way we got different cuisines was by having immigration. As if we'd otherwise all be eating meat and two veg every day.

Plenty of countries have low rates of immigration but a wide and varied cuisine. Someone mentioned Japan upthread. I've been there a few times and eaten Italian, Indian etc. They didn't need mass immigration to introduce them to these foods.

For me it's not as simple as I'm for or against immigration. I'm actually the daughter of an immigrant from mainland Europe so I'm not "100% British" myself. There are pros and cons to it, as with everything.

No, the opposite.

I don’t think anybody does claim that, actually. But there’s no doubt that our society has taken steps and made significant changes in both social attitudes and laws. I do see a lot of people like you pretending that’s what others are insinuating, as an excuse to tell them that their concerns are ridiculous though.
Which makes me wonder, if you can’t find anything to disagree with without making something up…do you actually disagree with them? Or are you just saying what you think will sound ‘best’ without actually thinking or considering what people are saying?

I think there can be a lot of privilege here. Immigration isn't something that we are all equally affected by so it's to be expected that people have different experiences and opinions.

I immigrated to the UK from an EU country 30 years ago. I also lived un the USA before that .

Living in London I found that food, culture, fashion, the arts and so on really benefitted from having people from all other the world making the capital their home. I was also impressed by the good levels of integration, so much better than in my country of birth.

I think the issues are that succcessive governments have been unable to address illegal immigration and unwilling to keep investing in the country infrastructure (affordable housing, health, social care, schools) to avoid resentment building up.

As an immigrant I always thought that it was my job to integrate, speak the language as best as I can and to always respect the law. I would expect other immigrants to do the same. I became a British citizen about 10 years ago. If some people have issues with me being an immigrant that is their problem. I just get on with my life...

My thoughts are that if you live in a nice middle class area, it may feel like enrichment to you (although “enrichment” sounds pretty patronising to me). But if you’re a poor working class person who’s seen your local community changed beyond anything you recognise and you feel a stranger in your own hometown, “enriched” isn’t a word that would accurately describe the feeling.
Being told by wealthier, more affluent Brits that our experience isn’t important and implying that we’re just an ignorant and hateful is just par for the course in this country. It’s galling though and pure hypocrisy from the “be kind” and “let people with less power have space to express their experiences” people though.

Gentrification by wealthy Brits is a completely separate issue that deserves its own attention, but it doesn’t negate the effects of mass immigration. It just illustrates the power imbalance and the lack of empathy from all directions towards poor working class Brits.

Successive governments have not been investing. The population has been growing rapidly since about 2000. Have they done anything about building more homes, training more GPs, improving public transport, water system and treatment - not much!

Now eveyone is blaming the arrival of immigrants but the various governments over tbe years have done next to nothing about it even though they knew it was happening.

To answer your question OP, I love travel and learning about other countries and cultures and generally feel
that immigration has brought great cultural benefits. Multicultural workplaces tend to be creative and innovative because of the large variation of backgrounds.

I tend to agree that immigration supports diversity and have generally held quite progressive values, ie, I would never vote reform or tory.

My current concerns are less about the immigrants themselves, and more to do with the area placements. Some of the most stretched councils and poorer areas of the UK have seen the highest rise of vulnerable and poor immigrants, especially in the North West, North in general and the West Mids.

I can't quite parse how this is supposed to enable diversification, when at ground level there are huge cultural and religious differences, with many in these areas being pushed into HMO's and trapped in a single lifestyle with no chance of advancement, in areas that are already low paid, with housing shortages and overstuffed schools.

I am intrigued why the previous governments made that decision, specifically.
I am cynical enough to wonder if this seemingly intentional scattering was decided upon to manipulate future votes. A good amount of these towns are set to vote reform, many of which were staunch labour or tory strongholds previously.

I wish we could have a reasoned and mature discussion around immigration, but sadly the media and popular discourse is too divided and the rhetoric generally woefully incendiary.
I wonder if those who have not witnessed the changes in struggling areas are seeing it through the rosier lens I have myself always held. I live in a low immigration area currently, although see many of the high immigration areas via work and travel. My DH's hometown is now extremely depressed, with barely any housing available, and most people moving out or to the suburbs by the year. The vast majority of the old terraced housing (in a very large borough) is now HMO, most shops have closed, and wages are in a ditch. I can't see this improving people's lives or the environment, since the new immigrants, which almost outnumber the previous population, are living nose to nose with addicts, generations on benefits and growing crime, drug use, unemployment and antisocial behaviour.

This can't be blamed on the immigrants, but it does feel hopeless.

I would love to hear opinions about the chosen areas, as have not seen it talked about in detail.

The Migration Observatory (I am presuming it is impartial/unbiased) provided this graph. It illustrates how the highest immigration areas are what were mainly Brexit towns, and areas that were already struggling previously. Suspiciously low rates in certain places than others. It strikes me as an act of political destabilisation, and sadly the less educated amongst the electorate in these stressed areas will not care to have a reasoned debate :(

No

Yes and no.

My concern is mainly over a lot of immigrants from cultures which is not as progressive as ours when it comes to hard fought rights like women, gay rights etc
Also lone men from war zones with mental health problems on our streets.

The issue is that immigrants are sent to the same towns and posher areas aren’t affected by the poor infrastructure, poor integration etc. I’m a 3rd gen immigrant - my grandparents came here legally and had money and jobs and bought a house. Lots of immigrants now don’t have visas. They haven’t secured jobs and houses prior to moving. We should only allow people with VISAs and secure jobs.

And when the visas expire? We don’t seem to have any method of follow up, unlike other countries. Overstayers are not permitted to work, nor are failed asylum seekers. If they are working, it must be cheap, cash in hand labour for unscrupulous employers. No benefit to the economy there.

The areas many are sent to is often due to cost. There are parts of the UK where housing is still relatively cheap.

We need a very strict, skills and needs based NZ immigration system.

What do you mean when you say your area has changed beyond recognition and you feel like a stranger? Did you have a close knit british community that immigrants arent participating in? Or do you just mean being white you aren't the majority race any more?

I don't know about the immigration part but I have heard that in the days of the Raj, when a family had an Indian cook, he said that he got the lovely patties so smooth because he rolled them in his armpits. Enrichment.