to not care about immigration?

[StuckinTheMiddlewithYou]

So many people seem to have a huge problem with it and I really don't understand why.

The crazy thing is, I live in a hugely multicultural area and most of the people I know who have a problem with this, live in predominantly white suburbs.

We have a problem here with alcoholic homeless people fighting and screaming in the streets - none of them are immigrants.

One who doesn't think it makes me a better person if I believe that these criminals should be inflicted on foreigners rather than carry the risk in the UK.

There is just as much chance that they will carry out the same sorts of offences or worse in their countries of origin. I cannot see that it is a superior moral stance to say that it is better that they commit offences against a national of their own country than a UK national. I do not see the people of their country or origin as lesser individuals, or less deserving of protection, than people in the UK.

I know that many people will disagree, as there is a common ideology that people from outside the UK have less rights than we do.

Thistledew thank you you have just said yourself people only come here as a way of not facing "destitution" whether working or not.i dont believe we as a country should support every man an his dog just because we have it better than most.

an if my school problems are not down to immigration could you please tell me why the majority of the children at my sons school dont speak english?

joh- I think that the issue is whether you believe that it is fair and just for some people to live in relative luxury, with foreign holidays, fancy cars, and flatscreen TVs, whilst other struggle to provide themselves and their families with food and healthcare. If you believe that that is inherently justifiable, then you will feel that we have no obligation to support and share our resources with those less fortunate.

My view is that this is not fair, and that our resources should be more equally distributed, but I appreciate that it is a radical view that not many hold.

About your child's school, I would be prepared to accept it is more of an issue of immigration if you can categorically state to me that the only children not given a place are white British. There are places going spare in rural communities. As I said, it is a matter of allocation of resources, not a matter of the nationalities of the people to whom they are allocated.

Controlled immigration is a good thing, healthy but it has gone WAY beyond that and now a huge proportion of english people INCLUDING immigrants who have been here a long time are not happy with it. it is not a race issue for most as it is not and should not be about not liking people it is for most i think purely about too many people, too small space and too few funds. i live in east london which is a front line for how multi' is not working. see it on a daily basis re my life as a mother and my job as a worker. people don't mix, too many people clambering for few jobs and not enough housing. say what you like, label it what you like but it is a mess. every time an english kid leaves dd's school they are replaced with a child that is not from england, there are few remainging english kids in the school, dd doesn't get much time with teacher at school as alot is taken up with kids who need extra help due to lack of english. contrete towers have been built up over the last two years like you have never seen, most people that have moved in are not english. developers didn't provide a new dr's surgery subsequently now have to wait a good few weeks for a dr appointment instead of say 4 years ago within a couple of days. friend who is a midwife at local hospital made me aware of many hardships on her part working for predominantly non english patients most of which need a tax paying translator. she said that alot of eastern europeans complain to her about (quote) how useless the uk maternity treatment is as apparently it is very good in eastern europe, odd that it hasn't occured to them that having hundreds of thousands of young eastern europeans might drain the uk system some what. blimey, if i was abroard and i was getting free health care i would be very grateful even if it was shite. i have an asian neighbour, elderly hindu lady who regularly rants to me about how there are too many people coming over here. across the board people are not happy about it as they do't want their quality of life to change and even though you cannot blame people from poorer countries flooding here to seek a better life you have to slow it down at some point as the UK is a small country. my midwife friend has also made me aware that immigrants are now able to claim social housing and benefits alot more easily due to some eu law that has now expired, i remember hearing some politician talking about it recently actually on tv, she said alot of the people she sees/treats at the hosiptal are not english, on benefits, in social housing and alot of which have not been in the country long so things ain't black and white are they....she said that people get housing based on needs, in other words, if you have alot of children you go to the top of the list

Thistledew why do you feel the need to argue on everyones point of view unless it conforms with your own. im not going to justify everything i say to someone who is clearly very narrow minded.

joh - Because I feel the same about you and it is something that I feel strongly about. If I can get a few people to think again about their views, I would be happy. There is so much propaganda in the press, that I can't resist an opportunity to try and make it known that there is more than one way of looking at the situation.

nout' do do with media propaganda, i can make up my own mind by what i SEE and HEAR on a daily basis. very naive to think that a small country like the UK can open the doors and let millions come here and not think it will impact on society and that people already living here will remain happy about the situation. it took a long time before it bothered me so the fact that it now does speaks volumes as i am normally a laid back left leaning type of person

I live in Leicester and from my point of view and from what I see ..multiculturalism works very well here

Paisley- I don't doubt that it will and does have an impact on society. I just don't think that it is a bad thing.

I agree with the OP, usualsuspect, starkadder and magic.

Yes, illegal immigration is something which needs to be quashed, however legal immigration is a good thing which I consider to be very well controlled. It is not easy to get in - in fact it is very difficult to obtain a working visa.

I used to live in a part of Devon where there was zero ethnic representation, and now live in Gloucester which has a mixed community. I far prefer it here - less casual racism, more knowledge of how other people live, more diversity. It's a good thing in my view.

DP is in agreement, and he is someone who has worked all over Europe in a manual job (he is a bricklayer by trade, he spent most of the 80s working in Spain, most of the 90s working in Germany).

Gloucester is hardly a "diverse community".

How can you say legal immigration is well controlled, when anyone in the whole of the EU can come here? What kind of control is that?

i think immigration is a good thing too only if you live in an area of which there are many where it is way beyond good then it ain't great. my cousin who is a builder lives in luton which is a very heavily populated area for immigration. he has recently gone out of business due to the eastern european influx. i have observed a slow decline in his once successful business but he has had to throw the towel in. he has told me many times how people he used to do regular work for now shyly admit to him that they give the work to eastern europeans as they are cheaper, they have told him this many times. my cousin has also told me how many times, it is common practice apparently where he lives, that if you are a builder in a marked van that he has had on more than one occasion been followed when giving someone a quote but then the 'follower' has knocked on the door and undercut him and got the work instead of him. outrageous and if i had read this in a newspaper i wouldn't have believed it but this is true

You seem have a lot of cousins and friends giving you information paisley11

really annoying, is it unusual to have a cousin. and i know alot of people. i have a friendly outgoing personality so yes, i am friendly with neighbours and it is for that reason that i don't like living in an area where people don't like to talk to you becuase you are of a different culture. what is so odd about knowing a neighbour who is a midwife. you have to tell yourself i am lying rather than believe that in life some things are not rose tinted, unbelievable, think what you like, i have better things to do than make up miserable stuff like this

I didn't say I didn't believe you

Its just my experiences of living in a multicultural area are very positive. I love the diversity and think that all my children have benefited from having friends from other cultures

They have a much better understanding of different religons and customs and are not afraid of the big bad immigrants

why does it matter where someone gets information from its all fact. if you step out of your little bubble an go speak to people in your community you will find out its happening everywhere.

I don't live in a bubble ..I live in Leicester which has one of the highest immigrant populations in England ,so I think I'm pretty qualified to know what its like to live in a multicultural city

joh1981 are you related to paisleyII? you seem very similar

well i live in birmingham so believe im more than qualified to know what its like aswell

paisleyII has very good points on the subject are you under the impression that as we dont share your views we are automaticly wrong

No I thought you might be her sock puppet cousin or friend down the road or something

Apologies if I'm wrong

People really should get some perspective. The proportion of immigrants in the UK is lower than that in so many other countries - INCLUDING France, Germany, Australia, Canada, USA, etc. See here

at usualsuspect.

You and I are neighbours. :)

Oakmaiden, why let the facts get in the way of good old-fashioned daily mail claptrap. You're spoiling the fun!

Rob - Gloucester does have a significant ethnic population actually

Not huge, but it is a very small city. But there is proportionally a large asian, african, eastern european and caribbean community. I take it you have never been there therefore don't actually know.

I like it and am very happy for dd to grow up here, and not be in a little white anglo saxon protestant bubble.

My experiences are the same as UsualSuspect.

"How can you say legal immigration is well controlled, when anyone in the whole of the EU can come here? What kind of control is that?"

What you are talking about is legal migration. And you and I could up sticks and move to Spain, Italy, wherever. It is reciprocal.

My DP is a builder. He has seen an influx of eastern european workers (not so much now). The reasons why the eastern europeans get more work is the fact that a lot of them are highly qualified and experienced and work better than their british counterparts. For a while he employed several Slovakian brickies, who worked alongside the british ones (for the same pay I might add).

Lots of eastern european builders have hightailed it now, seeing that the building trade has been in severe shtuck for over 2 years. That has got bugger all to do with the immigrants, but is a direct consequence of the credit crunch and subsequent recession.