to think that experts are finally starting to tackle immigration and our feelings on it?

[Redroses11]

www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2016/02/29/why-immigration-remains-a-class-issue

The accent thing is fascinating.

I, and several others on here, have been saying exactly this for a while. The poor who have been struggling have been told that they are racists, ill-educated and stupid. The response to "there are too many people" (because there are not enough school places or the wait for a Council House is forever), is that we should just build more schools, hospitals and houses rather than block immigration although the ten years that would take is too long for "my child", "my elderly mother", "my family".

Absolutely it is a class issue and always has been.

'our' feelings? I am pro immigration - child of an immigrant grew up in a terrace house in Liverpool so hardly the epitome of middle classness - I have never accused anyone concerned about immigration of being racist unless they expressed racist views.

We do not think the need for more school places houses or NHS support is down to immigration - it may be part of some of it but we also have a growing and ageing indigenous population

I just read the article, I agree I think the author does great job of recognising the social factors that arise from immigration which economists do not interest themselves in.

I wish politicians would do a better job in a similar manner of explaining why staying in the EU is good for the average British person, when they trot out the economic argument and financial benefits it's usually in macro level numbers without trying to translate it to the average individual level and leaves many (well myself) suspecting that the financial benefits of being in the EU primarily mean profits for corporations and the top 1% of society.

I don't know about experts, but politicians and journalists are certainly paying more attention to the issue.

This is more bullshit unfortunately. The reason the poor are suffering is not because of the immigrants but because of successive governments filled with self-serving ministers.

They've done their part to write the narrative that has the average citizen roll his eyes every time someone tries to tell him "It's the banks". Somehow it's boring to expect the City to pay for its collective nut-pucker, and far more fun to blame Johnny.

ghosty If we bring in more immigrants because the population is aging where does that stop? They'll grow old, then we'll need more. It would be never ending. That argument makes no sense to at all to me.

I suspect there's a difference (broadly speaking) in how people feel about immigration depending on how far back in your family tree you can find an immigrant. If you're the child of immigrants I wonder if you're more likely to be pro than someone like me who has no immigrant family history ( as far back as anyone's been able to trace anyway!)
Sorry none of that had anything to do with the op

but those immigrants work - pay tax and tend to retire back home (EU) - they aren't coming here aged 60+

My Family are Irish - I faced a hell of a lot of shite growing up here in the 70's and 80's - my feelings on aren't really based on that though

I think that the cultural effects of mass-immigration are beginning to become much more obvious, to the point that they can't be ignored anymore.

I'm not saying that the cultural effects are all bad, many of them are good.

Finally!

So the housing issue has nothing to do with selling off council houses and not building any new ones?

And the school places and NHS problems has nothing at all to do with the fact that there have been massive funding cuts and closures and sell offs?

Of course, it's all the fault of immigrants. (that was sarcasm)

My family came over from Italy in 1900.

Radiatorkey, you said, "I suspect there's a difference (broadly speaking) in how people feel about immigration depending on how far back in your family tree you can find an immigrant. If you're the child of immigrants I wonder if you're more likely to be pro than someone like me who has no immigrant family history ( as far back as anyone's been able to trace anyway!)"

That would only express the views of that subset of the population who are solely self-interested, no?

Youthecat - but isn't it reasonable to assume that if public funding cuts have created housing/education/health care shortages etc... Then people on the lower end of the economic scale also face increasing competition for scarcer resources as a result of immigration. Whether you think immigration is all good or all bad or somewhere in between, you can't deny that the UK's population has grown tremendously quickly since the early 2000's. In fact annual population growth has been over 400,000 people annually every year since 2005. I think there are many benefits to our growing population but also resulting pressures placed on the public infrastructure unfairly affect people lower down on the economic scale, hence I think the OP's linked article is quite relevant.