To not like this Idea of a new multicultural Britain

[monkeyfarm]

I suspect this probably won't go down too well but I'm just being honest as I'm interested to see if I'm the only one who feels this way?
I hate how things are changing, how I can be in a store feel like I'm in eastern europe, why are we one of the only countries that do this? why can't we take a leaf out of the book of Australia and open our doors to people who have something to contribute and not just all and sundry?
Am I on my own in feeling this way?

Mossad is making up stuff about Iran

Love your neighbour as yourself.

'So, we have a long British history of being intolerant bigots, too. And maybe the way to put this right is to learn from our fuck-ups and not let it happen again.' Hear hear.

Interesting that Somalis and bangladeshis are being mentioned now, suggesting people have NO comprehension of how different it is to emigrate to the UK from outside the EU as from within it, and how different welfare laws and entitlements (often, sod all) apply to different groups.

People's views will differ from mine, so be it- as long as they are informed ones.

cantspel- sorry not intentional.

I look and sound very English - but I am not. I am a mixture of Irish, Scottish and English. Mainly Irish actually. When I think about the racist attitudes that I would have faced personally not that long ago, it makes me very aware of what others are facing now.

Many, probably most, immigrants make hugely positive contributions to society. One of the advantages of living in London is the variety of food and shops...

Yep OP, you are on your own.

The Swedes aren't terribly keen on their immigrants.

The French don't love the Maghrebs

peachy - again, I agree: people don't often know the differences between the EU/outside the EU.

FWIW parts of Eastern Europe are outside the EU, and the part DH comes from is. He has no recourse to benefits or anything like that (which he feels is right), although he has never paid taxes anywhere else and works hard here. He's white with a posh English accent. It is a shedload harder if you are not. Before we even get onto people who're seeking asylum here and need all the support we can give them.

it's QUEUE NothingIs

and does it really matter? the lack of patience of others was clearly more of an issue than the hearing issues or language issues of that customer. You have NO evidence if they had hearing impairments etc but you are choosing to make it a language/immigrant issue

as i already said, they could have been on holiday/just arrived/visiting..buying fuel for the driver waiting outside who may have injured their ankle, so they can drive but not walk inside to pay for the petrol

see what thinking widely does? it gives people LEEWAY and margin for error - HUMAN error in situation, regardless of the colour of nationality of that human.

if only we were all perfect robotic aliens who looked appropriate

grrrr

Se nothing, it happened to be an immigrant (or holiday maker?0 that time but plenty of people can hold people up- what if it was someone who had alzheimers, or was dazed after losing someone or any of a myriad of reasons...

compassion is ALWAYS a bonus. I get the whole child won't poo in public toilets(I have 3 kids on the spectrum, boy do I!) but there are so many reasons people can get held up.

hully, you're beginning to sound like an up-market version of 'National Brotherhood Week'.

The Swedes aren't terribly keen on their immigrants.

Some Swedes aren't. The vast majority are extremely welcoming and bend over backwards to help and include us.

I'm just saying it's all very difficult and complicated.

plus why not interrupt and ask pls could your son use the bathroom as it was urgent?

there is always a way

Are you white Flamin?

I can see this from both sides really.

On one hand I was very uncomfortable in a queue the other day when we were all grumbling about the amount of time we had been waiting and the lady in front of me said "oh its that Eastern European girl again, ive had to put her right a few times" was a bit that she would say it to me and particularly be so racist when there was an asian girl standing behind me. I did think to myself "well the eastern european girl speaks one more language than I do"

On the other hand I am less than impressed by the large companies (yes im talking about you Costa) who seem to to employ staff who have only basic command of English, I can only assume these staff are cheaper. A few weeks ago I ended up ordering what the guy could understand rather than what I wanted.

In an ideal world we would all mix up and get on, I do have concerns perhaps that living so close but not in an integrated way is causing more resentment as we are close enough to see the differences but not near enough to grow to like each other and realise that in the scheme of things they are unimportant. Language is the major barrier to this (and before anyone says it I am equally scathing of Brits who move to Europe only socialise with other Brits and never learn the native language)

Jumping down someones throat and calling them a racist, rather than giving them examples of how immigration is of benefit to this country achieves nothing but unfortunately these days seems to be the mumsnet way.

"I don't agree, if multiculturalism unites then why do people come in to britain but want their own shops places of worship etc? I don't think that is what they want, I think they want the best of both worlds, to leave their own country and turns ours into a mini version of theirs but only with the bits that suit, what happened to when in Rome?"

Have you ever been to Rome, OP? Do you know much about Roman history? An interesting parallel.

The Romans went around the world raping and pillaging, much like we did with the Empire.

Rome itself is a hugely multicultural city. Even when the Romans decided to all of a sudden change their religion to Christianity, Judaism still existed. Today in Rome there are Synagogues, Temples, Mosques and a plethora of languages spoken.

You don't come across as having thought this through to be honest. "why are we one of the only countries that do this?" strikes me as a positively stupid thing to say. Have you travelled? Visited any other countries? Because you clearly have no idea. Bring Australia up as a prime example - their indigenous population are in a distinct minority and have been treated appallingly by generations of (mostly British) immigrants. What makes you give this as an example?

I love the thought that some incredibly dimwitted people have of 'sending them all back to their own country'. Imagine. Half of Australia, America, a lot of Africa, not to mention the rest of the world would have to come and live in the UK. The Brits love to procreate and spread their genes all over the world. Think about it.

I think a little more tolerance of everyone, by everyone would go a long way, and whilst I frankly have no clue about the whys and wherefores of Japanese immigration and certainly don't consider myself a Marxist, I am inclined to agree with jeanvaljean that the 'powers that be' cause a lot of the issues that lead to attitudes like those of the OP.

Overt political correctness and so-called 'positive discrimination' get a lot of people's backs up. A friend of mine is an ex-pat of about 20 years standing in a predominantly Muslim country. She thinks it's hilarious that whilst our government and local councils are getting their knickers in a twist about renaming Christmas 'Winter Festival', her neighbours are decking their houses with Christmas trees and fairly lights!

I live in a very white area but we still have a mosque with a 3 mile radius, indian shop, turkish barbers, polish shops, curry houses, kebab houses, chineses takeaways and any number of other non british rooted businesses.

You dont have to live in london to be able to buy bolst curry powder or get a wet shave.

'whilst our government and local councils are getting their knickers in a twist about renaming Christmas 'Winter Festival''

dum, I thought this was a myth? Can you link to evidence that anyone is really proposing to do this?

You dont have to live in london to be able to buy bolst curry powder or get a wet shave.

There is something about this sentence I love.

Shockingly, for an atheist, I applaud Jesus.

But yes, you will be deleted.

I love multicultural Britain but I don?t like people coming over here with the intention of abusing the system and adding to crime rates. I love the fact that we are one of the most tolerant countries in the world but there are too many people living in confined areas such as the SE and London, extra tightening of the borders and immigration is needed before it becomes a massive problem.

Are you white Flamin?

I am, but the majority of immigrants in my very small close knit town are either Thai, Iraqi or Somali. We have 1 Swedish restaurant and 5 Thai ones.