To think, without upsetting anybody, we are massively overpopulated on this tiny Island??? What sensible non punitive solutions are there??

[PasstheBucket89]

Its pretty relevant with all the talk about migrant boats, priti patel saying she will make the passage unviable etc she has done some awful things, it makes my blood run cold tbh i doubt she cares about the safety of them in that boats. But, what di we do, and when suggestions are made its often motivated by hate not quality of life issues. And yes, the ageing massively adds to the overpopulation aswell, but what should we do? reasonably? this tiny Island is massively overpopulated, it doesn't benefit anyone to be crammed in like sardines like this, massively effects access to housing, healthcare, education etc, What should the gov do, not adding to the hostile environment??.

The UK is very poor at helping refugees. Lots of promises made but not actioned. Poorer countries often do much more to help.

Net migration is 280k and the death rate in the UK runs at about 480-500k each year. Why is the population increasing ?

@frumpety

Net migration is 280k and the death rate in the UK runs at about 480-500k each year. Why is the population increasing ?

700000 births

We are overcrowded as we should really not be building over any more green land.

1. We need floor plains/land for run off to balance the water table.
2. We need trees etc for oxygen and to support wildlife
3. We shouldn't rely as much as we do on imports - covid has taught us that.
4. The roads are already jammed
5. People need access to outdoor space for mental health

We need as a world to help raise the prospects of people I poorer countries and to stop environmental damage.

Obviously the UK is more generous than France etc in terms of free healthcare, housing etc otherwise migrants wouldn't be coming here. Maybe address that issue, start giving refugee places dependent on need and not just whoever can make it across the channel.

There has to be a cut off somewhere, otherwise the NHS, schools, social housing become unsustainable.

The migrant boats represent 1% of the asylum seekers which arrive every year, yet putting pictures of them on the covers of the tabloids never fails to drum up anti-asylum seeker sentiment.

We have a government which consistently votes to underfund our resources, so we’re all squabbling over scraps.

In 2019 Turkey became the largest refugee-hosting country worldwide, with 1.59 million refugees. Turkey was followed by Pakistan (1.51 million), Lebanon (1.15 million), the Islamic Republic of Iran (982,000), Ethiopia (659,500), and Jordan (654,100).

The European country is doing enough to host refugees. The UK is a rich country and must do much more.

Make sensible choices about having children. If no one has more than two children, the population will gradually decrease, bearing in mind some will have only one or no children through choice or circumstance.

But where does it stop? How many numbers? We have 68 million in the UK, 800 million poor in India alone. Say 10 million refugees wanted to come to the UK, would that be to many? Once you open the boarders and let people come here, how do you control the numbers?

The European country is doing enough to host refugees. The UK is a rich country and must do much more.

Typo - Europe isn’t doing enough to support and host refugees.

Haha, yeah, you can up and leave and live where you want - not.
Unless you are a doctor or have a Phd in something like mathematical modelling, IT. Or a cool million or two.

Luckily, I’m in a position where I could apply for jobs abroad or at least go with DH. We only have one teen we’d have to uproot.

But you responded to my point perfectly. Many people cannot even think of leaving, because open borders aren’t really a popular concept worldwide.

If the U.K. were to forgo gardens when building and build high capacity buildings; build on green space; tax to the hilt; take away the dream that if you work hard you can achieve anything you want (because actually richer people’s standard of living is brought down by higher taxes in order to provide better lifestyles for others including people just turning up on our beaches) ...then what you’ll find is that people who have the ability to leave, will.

They’ll migrate to places that they perceive to give them a higher standard of living.

Whilst everyone else is stuck here, in high rises, paying high taxes on the name of socialism.

My friend who does the same job as me, left the U.K. two years ago to work abroad. She now has a big home which cost less than ours; a big garden; a swimming pool; is about a 15 minute drive from a beautiful beach. Her asthma is better. Her arthritis is better and her quality of living far exceeds what it was in the U.K. Tempting.

@Pellas I agree, this should also include anyone wanting to come to the UK, they should only be having a maximum of 2 children.

Our birth rate is now below replacement at 1.7 babies per 1000 and dropping. However, the overall population is still growing because we are living longer (population drag). It's forecast to get worse over the next 40 years before returning to some kind of equilibrium.

It's worth noting that the majority of middle income and rich countries all have birthrates below 2.1 children (replacement rate). Even in traditionally high birth rate countries such as Nigeria, the number of children per 1000 has gone down. Put bluntly, when you given women contraception and access to education, they choose smaller families. They have more interesting things to do, alongside raising a family.

By the middle of this century, immigration will be seen as a managed resource, just as trade, tuition and manufacturing is now.

Looking ahead, two big issues are rearing their heads. 1) Climate change. It's going to produce a lot of climate refugees, from flooding to unbearable heat, depending on where you live. We can expect the resumption of war over resources such as water.

2. Our society is about to go through a massive recalibration. I am watching Japan to see how they are handling it. When you have more adult nappies being sold than baby nappies, you know there's a problem.

@Parker231 - would huge camps of refugees living their lives in inadequate tents be acceptable in this country, though? How much unrest would there be if some children continued to go to private schools, but state schools were asked to up class sizes to 60 and change the way they teach to accommodate refugee children? Or would refugee children be taught in their tent cities? Where would they all be housed if they arrived en masse? In stately homes? Buckingham Palace probably has a few spare rooms, but somehow I don’t think that is where they would end up!

What about international (EU and non EU) students coming here to study, what percentage of the migration statistics do they make up ?

@JanewaysBun agree with everything you’ve said. I was brought up in a village, moved to a big city at 18 and only lasted 6 months before coming back to live in a village, honestly affected my mental health living in a city, I was so stressed all the time. Feels like more and more houses are being built around me now and it is stressing me out, there is another village 1 mile along from me that has just had another application for 200 more houses on top of the 500 they are building, it’s getting closer to my village it seems and they will eventually just merge together to make a town if it continues. The GP practice is full as it covers such a large rural area, the school is now past capacity but everyone’s objections seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Also another poster pointed out it’s probably about to get pretty dire living in the UK soon, lack of jobs etc. Don’t know where people will get the money to buy all these new houses anyway

Walkaround - no one in any country should be living in a tent city. Why do some (poor) countries take in refugees but the UK doesn’t either host them or financially support countries that do? The UK selfishly is “ a not in my back yard country “.

BBC article today - One gentleman from Aleppo has been living and working in Germany for two years, but couldn't get his work permit renewed, so he is trying to come to the UK. Another is a pharmacist who thinks he will be given a house and a job. What we need to to is to try and educate those who think that everything is available and achievable in the UK versus the rest of Europe, it isn't going to be easy for these gentlemen, but the traffickers are doing a better job at disinformation.

My other worry is the very high proportion of young men. Groups of young men, from anywhere, including in the UK, who have no jobs, or hope, have the potential to cause all sorts of trouble.

They are concreting over fields near where I live. That land will be ruined forever. We know the planet's temperature is rising, wildlife numbers are plummeting and the environment is struggling. But let's keep going like infinite economic growth and population expansion is desirable and possible.

There is over population, both globally and in the UK. And yes, over consumption, particularly by Western countries too. Globally, we in the West need to transition to a green economy and consume less, so those in other countries don't suffer for our choices.

Locally, I'd suggest a very simple process for the UK population: one in, one out. No inherent racism/bias in an effective quota system, and means rather than an uncontrolled experiement, we have a plan. A clear and transparent system that both ends of the political spectrum could get behind is needed in order to get to a sustainable position.

@frumpety

What about international (EU and non EU) students coming here to study, what percentage of the migration statistics do they make up ?

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7976/

Quite a lot

@Lasttraintolondon it really does make me so cross

What do you think is the upper limit population for England?

Scotland population is 6 million compared to 60 million in England, maybe we should be encouraging people to live there.

@Parker231 - but refugees in poor countries often are living in tent cities. You ask how they are accommodating more refugees than richer countries and I’m answering - they are not all integrated in the existing communities and even where they are, some are still trying to get to Europe because they hope for a better future. Many are receiving no education at all. We could accommodate then like that in the UK, but would that be acceptable?

European countries need to take much more of the worlds refugee population and not leave the problem to poorer countries who can’t cope.

I don't think we are massively overpopulated. The simplest way to reduce the birth rate is to reduce poverty and second is to tackle those men who refuse to use condoms. It seems largely only to be poor men and our Prime Minister who have several children by several different mothers.