that it has just hit me that this time next year I wont be an EU citizen

[garethsouthgatesmrs]

I know it's yet another brexit thread but it genuinely just hit me that it's actually happening THIS YEAR! I am truly gutted. Would love someone with political knowledge to come on and reassure me that it actually won't be that bad. I have 3 children who have to live with the repercussions.

buble is on jules holland-this has to be a good sign

*It’s really difficult to manage such huge cultural and religious differences and for people who so fundamentally disagree with each other’s lives and morals to live peacefully alongside one another.

So you're basically saying, sorry, I know you're fleeing a war zone but I don't want to help you because I think we are too different? Where should refugees go? Just because you don't want them in the UK won't stop them fleeing. Don't you think we have a moral responsibility to do our bit? (And this is also pretty insulting to all the refugees who have successfully made the UK their home without causing any problems at all - you know the majority!)

I did note it. You said the media has whipped up false stories millions are coming to Europe And a million did come. confused

With all due respect @MrsAridaneOliver, are you unfamiliar with the difference between the plural and singular? - A million is not millions, so no millions are not coming every year to Europe. Also you have made no reference to the very small numbers of these refugees who get asylum in the UK. 3 times as many refugees claim asylum in France than UK and as we all know Germany took many times than that. So to suggest the UK is having a migrant crisis from asylum seeekrs is a lie.

A million refugees came to Western Europe

would that be the million that came after the collapse of Yugoslavia - who are now so integrated we forget they we alien once

or the million that came in 2015 after the collapse of Syria - who are still work in progress

or the million Brits who moved to Germany in the 80s (see Auf Wiedersehn pet for details) to work and then moved back to the UK when the economy picked up

People are on the move all the time
its the best way to match labour shortages with available people

There are 107k brits in Germany, not a million, and there never was a million....

Where should refugees go? The first available safe haven Britain is at the end of a long road.

Buster72
There are 107k brits in Germany, not a million, and there never was a million....
They were there illegally, working cash in hand. In their tens of thousands.
Where should refugees go?
They should go where there is work for them to do.
No point having them in countries with unemployment.
Put them in places with, for example, 100,000 unfilled posts in the NHS
The refugees want to work. they want to earn money they want to make enough to go home and rebuild their own countries.
Northern Europe has a massive demographic deficit
making best use of refugees is entirely sensible
and will cost nothing in benefits because they will be in work

Where should refugees go? The first available safe haven Britain is at the end of a long road.
Most do! But when there are so many I believe the "burden" should be shared. I bet if the first country they arrived in was the UK we would be calling on other countries to help us out!

Refugees are NOT a burden unless they are made into one.
Spreading them around countries and getting them integrated and working is the solution
look at the Vietnamese Boat People from the 70's
let them in and let them work

Leaving them all on manky islands in Greece does nobody any good
same as the Palestinians stuck in "camps" in the Lebanon for 55 years now
Madness

No, they are not a burden which is why I put it into " ". They do, however, need help to settle and work and this takes time and money. This is why I strongly believe that we should be part of a Europe-wide programme to help them - it shouldn't just be question of geography.

They do, however, need help to settle and work and this takes time and money
It does, but a lot less of each if they can become economically active ASAP
and the best way to do that is to move them to the countries with massive labour shortages

• the UK
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Belgium

and out of the countries with high youth unemployment

• Italy
• Greece
• Spain
• France

(then again all four of those could sort their unemployment with simple policy changes, but old folks like the status quo)

Has anyone moved onto the mainland of Europe in an attempt to remain inside the EU?

I would if I could!

France doesn't have especially high youth unemployment compared with the UK (the figures are distorted by much higher participation in higher education in France) - but it does have a very chauvinistic labour market which makes like hard for non-French speakers. And of course more refugees speak good English than French.

Am I imagining it or did I read that the refugees that have been attempting the channel crossing are mostly Iranian and some are quite highly qualified?

It's all such a lovely idea but given the extreme pressures currently on our NHS, the state of education as a result of increased class sizes and lack of available social housing with property prices out of reach of the vast majority of first time buyers.
Where exactly do you suggest the next generation of youngsters already here should go when they want to leave the nest?
Because as much as my sympathy lies with everyone, everywhere, my first priority is for my own kids future, just as nature intended.
And none of these numbers make sense.

{Has anyone moved onto the mainland of Europe in an attempt to remain inside the EU?}
Sort of, yes although the original reason to move was not Brexit but my exceedingly small business will benefit from being 'over the water'.

Mistigri
Am I imagining it or did I read that the refugees that have been attempting the channel crossing are mostly Iranian and some are quite highly qualified?
Its the Serbia link to do with visas offered in the early part of last year
or at least they are claiming to be Iranian

France doesn't have especially high youth unemployment compared with the UK
Nearly double ....
www.statista.com/statistics/266228/youth-unemployment-rate-in-eu-countries/

Earthmover
Where exactly do you suggest the next generation of youngsters already here should go when they want to leave the nest?
The UK has half a million empty homes
The UK has over a million second homes
There are millions of under occupied homes on which there is no tax penalty

And demographically, the number of UK born youngsters is dropping / stable

Has anyone moved onto the mainland of Europe in an attempt to remain inside the EU

Quite. It does make me wonder what's going on when people are trying to escape from France to the UK. Clearly not heard of Brexit!

I moved to mainland Europe recently in order to eventually maintain the rights of a European. I’ve been here in Germany a few months now, and because of an imminent ‘no deal’ Brexit, I’ll need to get residence permit etc, which should be easy enough as someone with a job who pays a tonne of tax to the German treasury every month. I honestly can’t imagine wanting to go back to the UK now. The thought fills me with sadness. Even my home-loving Englishman dh doesn’t want to go back. Some of the ill-informed and xenophobic opinions on this thread make me really sad.

Ta1kinPeace

The UK has half a million empty homes The UK has over a million second homes

Half a million empty? Yeah in a dilapidated condition not safe for human habitation. Or on the housing market for sale at an exorbitant price that no first time buyer could ever afford.
And what has second homes got to do with anything?
Are you suggesting that compulsory purchase orders are applied to these?
That's some pretty extreme left wing thinking...and not something the average British is going to endorse. So we're pretty much where we are.
The next generation is facing a housing crisis

That's some pretty extreme left wing thinking...and not something the average British is going to endorse
Comes from the Economist Magazine actually - they advocate a total reform of Land Value Tax

Not being able to speak French in France is tough. Germany and Holland particularly have had English as a compulsory second language taught at school to a good level. Older French certainly do not speak much English 'out in the country' from what I can gather.

I think the issue of housing is that in the UK a house is seen as something that must make a profit whereas in Europe it is somewhere to live. The market in the UK is rigged by various means.

And what has second homes got to do with anything?

People who own second home and don't let them out take housing off the market and reduce the available supply.

In a lot of desirable rural areas, locals are priced out of the market by second home owners who buy properties that they might at best occupy a few weeks a year. This tears the heart out of communities because if there are fewer residents then there are also fewer local businesses.

You don't have to be in favour of compulsory purchase to think that this is something the government might usefully act on (for eg by increasing taxes on unoccupied properties and spending the money on building new homes).

for eg by increasing taxes on unoccupied properties and spending the money on building new homes

Great suggestion there
But you see earthmover all that money would probably now only go to finance that bloody brexit instead of building new homes.

@Earthmover, have you taken on board that the UK have taken in very small numbers of asylum seekers? 14,000 were granted asylum in 2017 out of 26,000 applicants for that year. . I gave links on previous page.

Economic migration via work visas from non EU countries is separate. Our govt grant these work visas as they know the economy needs these people and their skills. I just hope that people like you on this thread at least understand the numbsrs of asylum seekers, including the the poor people crossing the English Channel, are in very small numbers. I would hope we would want to do our bit in offering a safe haven.