Immigration comment from colleague, AIBU

[user2726182]

Name changed.

Myself and a couple of colleagues were talking about the upcoming general election, just about the debates that were on television last week.
Colleague stated she was voting conservatives because she wants brexit (fair enough) but then went on to say it's because of immigration and doesn't want anymore people coming in to the UK because we're a 'small island' and can't home any more people, she went on to say refugees are fine but that's it, then said 'I'm not racist' but just my opinion.

Now my grandparents were immigrants and I wouldn't be here without them coming from Asia, I was a bit offended by her comments.

Aibu?

Are we differentiating between those who are economic migrants/ those here to study/ those who are claiming asylum and refugees ?

@Ponoka7, the African women come to the UK for the NHS....but not to use it....to work in it. I don’t for one second believe you know lots of African woman who have babies with Englishmen to get public funds. African women by in large will do any work available e.g. nighttime office cleaning or care work before they will claim benefits and marry men from they own communities. The black women with mixed raced babies are usually British born, 1-3rd generation and are therefore not immigrants.

Definitely being unreasonable. Many counties, including the UK would suffer without immigration.

I agree an Australian points scoring system is the way forward, in terms of skill sets required but this should also be balanced with offering a balanced refugee count too.

Look at Germany post second world war, a lot of Turkish people came to Germany and helped rebuild cities which were bombed.

Our NHS in the UK benefits from, amongst others, Philippino immigrants and we would be lost without them. Not to mention many, many other migrants.

It's important to have a diverse set of nationalities in the UK. The clue is in the name...United

I'm sorry about this awful attitude, it's certainly not an attitude I think is right

The African women doing low paid health care work are still claiming benefits as well though - I've had many a night shift discussion advising them. I've spoken to a few who were very concerned about the two child rule and how it would affect them.

I know babyroobs

And the more people who are here the more housing, hospitals, schools etc you need. Are they all paying NI contributions or in employment? If they arrive in their 30s how do they pay for their pension?

I think it is horrible to report people. Why is her point not valid

Also many are housed by the council even though we are told this isn't true otherwise how would they survive on low skill wages

I guess a lot of these families are net contributers because they are in low paid and for cultural reasons often have 5/6 children meaning a lot of pressure on schools/ healthcare in the area. Of course not all end up in low paid jobs. I have an ex colleague who came from Somalia with nine siblings and they have all gone on to be Nurses/ Drs etc so well paid jobs. I certainly see a lot of people coming to the UK through arranged marriages and elderly parents being brought here from India putting pressure on an already stretched healthcare system.

I have worked with people from Africa for years. Without exception they worked insanely hard at several jobs. None of them were in social housing, and many of them were at the mercy of slum landlords.

My daughter is a ward sister, and is hemorrhaging nursing staff from the EU that the hospital spent a fortune on recruiting a few years ago. She despairs of how they're going to manage to staff her ward when Brexit actually happens. People are going home already.

A good immigration policy is made up of:
Needed skills
Refugees
Family ie marriage

I do not advocate zero immigration- but controlled the numbers need to drop!

Yes saraclara - they do work hard. We used to have to prod the agency workers on a nightshift because they had most likely been working all day and would fall asleep. I agree most of the Spanish and Italian nurses have left our local hospital too.

Sorry - prod sounds awful, I mean we'd have to gently wake them up as they'd fall asleep particularly when doing a one to one 'watch' of a confused patient.

I think it is really important to remember that people who are studying are also included in immigration figures, even if they are only going to stay for a short time.

By short time I mean a 3 year degree course

Also do people believe that if you marry an English man this gives you the right to remain here indefinitely now ? Even if your child is English ?

We are also being told to lower our carbon emissions in the UK and have less dc.

A friend of mine is from Eastern Europe and she's an economic immigrant. She's actually pro Brexit and supports your colleagues view on immigration. She's not racist . Your colleague is not racist. She has an opinion. And you should respect that for as long as she doesn't make it personal. There is difference between different views and being racist. Nowadays everyone is being accused of being racist and this term is widely misused.

One of my colleagues feels the same. And she was an immigrant in the 70's

So is she racist against herself or like many people is she just concerned about the lack of resources/infrastructure uncontrolled immigration causes?

Absolutely valid comment. Our schools and nhs cannot sustain the population we have currently. It’s a debate to be had and shouldn’t be closed down by people shrieking ‘racist’. Let’s have a points system whereby we accept immigrants who bring much needed skills into the country. It’s not racist to state the obvious - our country is full.

Also many are housed by the council even though we are told this isn't true otherwise how would they survive on low skill wages

Extra shifts, sharehouses, living within their means🤷

Boris has promised 50,000 more nurses
of whom 18000 will be existing nurses forced to work longer
and 20,000 will be imported from overseas
because without immigrants the NHS will collapse

Also many are housed by the council even though we are told this isn't true otherwise how would they survive on low skill wages

How many Council houses are left in Council ownership in the UK since the introduction of the Right to buy policy back in 1980 ? How many new Council houses have been built by local authorities since 1980 ? Anyone ?

The country is overcrowded etc doesn’t mean ppl are racist. It just means we need a curb on who we let in the country.

Racists dislike a person based on the colour of their skin etc

Peose who would like a more controlled immigration system are no not racist.

It just means we need a curb on who we let in the country.

• do you want to ban veg pickers and food processors?
• do you want to ban care workers?
• do you want to ban nurses?
• do you want to ban doctors?
• do you want to ban builders?
• do you want to ban financiers?
• do you want to ban academics and researchers?
• do you want to ban restaurant chefs?

Pick your group and then explain how what they do will be replaced with native born people ?

No ideas on which group will lose out on a points system ????