They're coming into our country and they don't even have to register to claim benefits now

[bupcakesandcunting]

Not the words of me but of Alf Garnett my mother.

I feel that she has reached the pinnacle of twattery. AIBU to tell her to shut the fuck up with this? Honestly, it makes me so fucking angry, especially when it is punctuated with "I read it in the newspaper", like that makes it definitely true.

yes capricorn - my Philippine GP stole my job - of course he did, I mean I'm fully qualified in putting plasters on grazed knees..............

Haven't read through the thread yet and I'm being Polish specific but since lots of people seem to have a thing about Poles.... The British behaved miserably towards the Polish community in Britain at the end of the war, dishonourably, inadequately and parsimoniously according to the House of Lords (HL Debate 27 Oct 1966). Perhaps it's time to give a bit back, not that I actually buy this idea that most Poles are coming here purely to claim benefits - seems to me that most work bloody hard. There was an outcry amongst Telegraph readers recently when Jamie Oliver said young Poles worked way harder than the average British kid. One member of the House in the debate in 1966 said that 'On sober analysis I believe that the average Polish soldier did more for Britain during the war than the average British soldier' and that the Poles 'helped to forge the victory and assure our freedom, if not their own'. Pretty disgraceful not to remember that really but it seems to be being conveniently forgotten by those who object to Polish nationals coming here.

don't really have much of an opinion other than we do need to build more schools to accomodate such high immigration. watching my son's lovely garden area being bulldozed to make extra classrooms is a bit depressing.

we aren't allowed to build on the acres of greenbelt yet allow our children to be squashed together in massive schools with no outdoor areas

"'Open the UK to unlimited immigration from Africa, and Asia'

So it is about race then afterall? You don't want lots of brown people here.

I'm mixed race and my DH is a white immigrant - Australian, but I'm probably more of an issue for you despite being born here.

By the way if no more immigrants are allowed here I'm guessing the rest of the world would retaliate and stop Brits from moving to their countries.

Also the country is not over-populated, the population is inbalanced as most of it is private estates and nearly everyone is crammed into the cities particularly in the South East."

The country is over-populated, we are the most densely populated large country in Europe. England would be the most densely populated country in Europe if it was country in it's own right. (not counting city-states). The southeast connurbation is ridiculously overcrowded, providing no quality of life for anyone but the most privileged.

I'm opposed to mass immigration of any race. Don't throw the "racist" argument about because it holds no water with me. I'm completely in favour of a small number of highly skilled immigrants being allowed to come to Britain to work.

If the rest of the world wants to stop Brits going to their country, fair enough. I can't see why they would. Skilled Brits have been working around the world for decades, long before we had unfettered immigration here.

"@RobF so if Baroquearoundtheclock came back and said that there is an Indian doctor in her area are you going to say that he stole her job?"
Is Baroque a qualified doctor?

The problem is mainly that immigrants take the jobs that unskilled Brits used to be able to do if they weren't bright enough to become professionals. Now we have a recession, many of the jobs that people laid off from skilled professions used to be able to do for a while simply aren't available anymore, because immigrants will work harder for less money and be less likely to stand up for their rights and working conditions than British people raised in the country where the trade union movement began.

@Yellowstone I agree although it wasn't just Poles, every country within the Commonwealth supported and fought for Britain during both World Wars but that often gets forgotten about by those with an axe to grind.

What do want to happen? These people want to come to the UK and we can't stop them. If we don't pay them, then they will be all over the streets and living on roundabouts!
It's not fair to people who have lived here all their lives but that is life and just be glad that you've been able to enjoy free healthcare and have food.

Not to mention the sordid shenanigans that resulted in Poland being handed over to the Eastern Bloc after WW2...

I knew a lot of Poles in the US; none of them were work-shy, and a relative who was in the Irish merchant marine preferred Poles above any other crew.

The accusation of taking jobs is crazy. The jobs you find young, unattached immigrants doing are jobs that people with children can't do because of benighted childcare policies. There have always been unattached immigrants doing the night jobs and the dirty jobs (Irish for a long, long time) in the UK despite unions. The economy has always hummed along round the clock, and there have always been people at the bottom of the pile. Government policies that allow employers to abuse immigrants need examining, for everyone's sake.

That's exactly what I was thinking, sprogger...

Sprogger: why do you keep calling Rob Ron?
Are you being deliberately ignorant /rude or can't you read properly?

"Ron, do you realise that there are jobs between "unskilled" and "professional?"

I am starting to question your working class credentials."
I do realise this, as I fall into the semi-skilled category as a locksmith.

carmina, seriously, why don't you just eff the eff off? All you've done is post snidey remarks that no-one really gives a glittery shit about.

Ron, do you have any evidence, and I mean hard statistics not provided my the BNP/NF that immigrants are stealing all the jobs? Not anecdotal evidence, HARD facts.

Why does Carmina keep popping up in threads to tell people off for complaining about family members and correcting the spelling of names? Seriously weird.

Carmina, take a look at your qwerty keyboard.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7069779.stm

52% of new jobs created under Labour went to migrants.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/5673736/New-private-sector-jobs-taken-by-foreign-workers-research-suggests.html

85% of new jobs created by the private sector have gone to non British workers.

Research SUGGESTS, Ron.

Four years and two years out of date RobF, when the UK was a very different place - economic boom time. And frankly, if they're better employees with better credentials, why shouldn't employers recruit them instead? You're arguing for closed borders in a scary BNP way. I don't suppose you're here with an agenda are you? I wonder if you've posted on any other threads ...

Ripeberry - there was a man who lived on a roundabout outside the local Tesco in my town. He lived there in a tent for nearly a year. He was was white and British though....

Not a very helpful contribution. Sorry

"Four years and two years out of date RobF, when the UK was a very different place - economic boom time."
The second link is from this year.

"And frankly, if they're better employees with better credentials, why shouldn't employers recruit them instead?"
Employers shouldn't have the chance to. It is bad for Britain as a whole for British people to be left on the shelf while employers rake in the profits by being able to employ immigrants at low rates of pay. People have to pay more in taxes to boost the wages to liveable levels AND provide benefits for the people without jobs.

"You're arguing for closed borders in a scary BNP way. I don't suppose you're here with an agenda are you? I wonder if you've posted on any other threads ..."
I am here with an agenda of wanting Britain to be run for the good of people that live in Britain. If that is a "scary BNP agenda" so be it. I don't think it is.

I have posted on some other threads.

These people do live in Britain though :) I clicked on the link and it said 2009 at the top of the article.

And sorry, I have realised that you're not on MN solely to peddle your Britain for the British crap.

How do those of you who think people should 'go back home' feel about people who are working? About the (probably) Asian family who run your local late night shop? Or Polish builders? Do you have a policy of only employing/using British run establishments? How does that work for you?

*"And if wages are too low - it's hardly the fault of immigrants. As far as i'm aware, and this may have changed, but isn't the minimum wage set by the government."

It is, but other than that, wages are set by employers. The greater the supply of workers, the lower the wages.

There are far more people working for low wages today than there ever was prior to the minimum wage being introduced. Jobs that fairly recently paid enough for a person to raise a family, get a mortgage with, now pay barely enough for a single person to get by.

Is a strong work ethic a good thing? Yes, but not when employers can take advantage of it by expecting workers to work hard in arduous jobs for only minimum wage. So many jobs pay minimum wage today.

I am no fan of the liberal-left. I don't think they give a shit about normal working-class people any more than the Tories do. At least the Tories are honest about it. I resent the Guardianistas for taking over the Labour party and leading it down the sorry path it has been headed down since John Smith died in 1994 (and to an extent, since the 1980s).*

Rob I think you should be more upset at the right wing capitalist state, not the immigrants.

it's going on all the time. usual left gang on here shouting the loudest defending against saying it isn't but it is, i see it on a daily basis, only this morning, work related there are hundereds of eu and non eu families mooching around my place of work. how do they live? and where? they have no money but are living here. if i went to ie italy and ran out of money i would go home, i certainly wouldn't expect a house over my head to be given. i have a friend who rents out his house, he has just taken in an extended roma roumanian family rent being paid for in full by government. he had a friend help him with their paper work as they couldn't fill it in due to lack of english, they are already set up for other benefits, all signed off on paperwork, their family member sorted it out before they had even come in the country. so who says it ain't going on? absolute rubbish, an ideal scenario is that people come here to work and leave when/if their work dries up, not to settle in free accommodation indefinately when so many people homeless here already

"Rob I think you should be more upset at the right wing capitalist state, not the immigrants."
I keep saying that I don't blame the immigrants, but the people in favour of mass immigration. Which includes the right (the CBI etc) as well as the so-called "left" (Labour).

Can someone explain to me how mass immigration has been in line with the Labour parties stated purpose of representing the interests of working-class people in Britain? Doesn't importing more workers damage the bargaining power that working people have with their employers to demand fair wages and reasonable working conditions?