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??.

So therefore one solution is encouraging British born citizens to leave and then you don’t have to worry about numbers.

Excuse me, but that’s called colonisation. I thought The days of colonising other lands with excess population were over?

Immigrants pay more in than the local population - but that doesn't count the fact that most immigrants are working age and most of the population isn't, If you compared the payments of working Britain and immigrants I think it would be less favourable as immigrants are in low paid jobs so low amounts of tax paid. Many have large families, not all are single. So a drain on education, housing and NHS. All the resident retired population of the UK probably pay little tax.

There are 1.4 billion people in India if 1% came to the UK that would be 140 million, Africa is also 1.4 billion. We’re not over populated at the moment but it could soon get out of control. There is a big pull to come to the UK, other European countries apart from Germany don’t treat refugees, migrants as well as we do, I know we are not perfect but France are a lot worse, no wonder they want to come here.

@Talklessmilemore -

@Talklessmilemore - Overpopulation doesn’t just refer to actual proportion of land built on. How easy is it to get your children in a good school locally, get a GP appointment, get seen in an emergency and the like?

That's not overpopulation. It's about investment in infrastructure.

@FortunesFave

From the site "Population density in Europe is just 34 people/sq km. At 426 people/sq km, England is the most overcrowded large nation in Europe."

From the site.

That’s higher than China’s 152 people per sq/km. It’s a fact that the U.K. is over populated. It’s one reason why Covid hit the U.K. so hard, when a population is very dense the virus can more easily pass from person to person.

The UK isn’t over populated. The lack of schools, doctors etc is because we don’t pay in enough to fund these services. This isn’t a new problem.

There are 1.4 billion people in India if 1% came to the UK that would be 140 million, Africa is also 1.4 billion.

Are you seriously comparing the population of a subcontinent and continent versus one small island?

@SonEtLumiere oh yes sorry added on to many 000’s

I’m saying if everyone who wanted to come to the UK without any intervention, we would soon be overwhelmed

It doesn’t matter whether immigrants are net contributors or whatever, the problem is that the island is over populated. Around 60,000 net British people emigrate every year. But over 600,000 people immigrate to the U.K. meaning the population increases by half a million every year from immigration alone. This is not sustainable by any measure. So to correct, yes perfectly deserving people may not be allowed to settle in the U.K.

And for those of you saying the island is not overpopulated, when would it be? At 80million? 100 million?

There are far too many human beings in the world and anyone denying that fact clearly doesn’t comprehend the reality of living on a planet so stressed by human activity. We are only capable of sustaining a human population so enormous by over-exploiting everything around us. And no, we can’t suddenly become environmentally sustainable - environmental sustainability would support an infinitely smaller human population than the one we currently have. We are living on a knife edge as it is, with soil degradation, climate change, humanity proving itself utterly incapable of resolving disagreements without resort to war and destruction or just letting problems worsen unchecked, and wanton destruction of any habitat that isn’t already infested with excess humans. And of course England is over-populated. Even worse, the greatest housing pressure is in the areas already the most over-populated. And the Government’s stupid scheme to let private developers build more easily will just result in more homes where sewage comes up through the floorboards and toilets, that flood or subside, and that disrupt nature corridors. Because that’s what already happens with existing planning controls in the areas that are already over populated. You could maybe slightly ameliorate the position by flattening absolutely everything that is already there and starting again, without the illogical street patterns, roads, ancient sewers, etc. But who wants to destroy what remaining beauty and history we have in our old villages and towns, to make way for a supposed Utopia of one-bedroom flats as contemplated by those who think it is greedy to want children to have their own bedrooms?

“In 2019, approximately 612 thousand people immigrated to the United Kingdom, a decline of around 11 thousand when compared to the previous year. The number of immigrants entering the United Kingdom has been steadily increasing, with approximately 440 thousand more people coming to the UK every year in 2019 than in 1980.”
www.statista.com/statistics/283599/immigration-to-the-united-kingdom-y-on-y/

What you need is net migration. Not just "incoming".

We almost certainly could support the current world population in a sustainable fashion. It's something like 80% of the worlds population live at sustainable levels , it's just western lifestyles that tip us into the current mess

Much less meat and diary, much less flying, much less shopping

@SchrodingersImmigrant

What you need is net migration. Not just "incoming".

Net migration is 280,000 or so, so a quarter million a year. Still unsustainable.

@midgebabe - and migrants willing to cross the channel in dangerous boats illustrates the fact that many human beings do not think your idea of sustainable living is desirable.

Immigrants pay more in than the local population - but that doesn't count the fact that most immigrants are working age and most of the population isn't,

It compares an average adult.
European migrants living in the UK contribute £2,300 more to public purse each year than the average adult, suggesting a net contribution of £78,000 to the exchequer over their lifespan in the UK.

@Devlesko oh lovely 😊👍, be a while till mine are grown up 😁 x Some responses are lacking in empathy, imagine how desperate you have to be . Im glad people are correcting the "well don't have kids!" whos going to be wiping your arse then lady?! with old we need young.

Its been sobering to hear during the pandemic, the populations of other countries in comparison to our own , Italy and South Korea have smaller population sizes than us, with their land mass, how have we allowed this to bloody happen .

@Keepithidden

We live in a relatively low tax country, barely 10% of the country is built on. We aren't over populated, we just don't pay enough taxes for basic infrastructure healthcare and education. Also we consume far too much, so the resources available are stretched.

Over population in my opinion is a con and is being used as another tool to distract the population from the underlying problems.

Completely agree. I work in Sweden and Norway quite frequently and whilst their taxes are much higher, their infrastructure works considerably better because of it.

If you look at the stats, every year there are 60k fewer British born people in Britain, but there are 280k more non British born people in Britain. It raises questions about at what point does Britain become a multinational colony of other nations and no long it’s own nation? Is it when there are more British born living abroad than in Britain? The population movements are very much like a diaspora response to colonisation.

@Walkaround - what is your suggestion? The China one child, one family policy?

@Chloemol

We are not over populated, however we also don’t have money to keep funding added to which a lot are not true refugees

The agreement at the moment is that they should be seeking asylum in the first country they come to, so Spain,Italy France. They don’t, and certainly France does nothing, just look at the Calais Jungles, I just get the impression they think the UK is paved with streets of gold, they will be housed and given money with no need to work and life will be better

The boats should be sent back to France or wherever they came from and they should deal with asylum claims

So by your logic we should not accept any refugees because they will all be conveniently soaked up by all the other countries around our smug little island? Well that's taking out responsibilities as a stable wealthy country very lightly isn't it.

You do know that the vast majority of the world's refugees are located in the world's poorest countries? Huge refugee camps in countries where the average daily income is measured in single dollars. There are people who have lived in those camps for thirty or more years, the proportion of the world's refugees who attempt to travel to the west is microscopic. Many refugees don't even make it further than the borders of their own country, millions are "displaced" within their own nation because they are the wrong religion, or belong to the wrong ethnic group.

Of course at the other end of the spectrum are the hugely wealthy, if somewhat criminal,, economic refugees who waltz into the country, or rather fly in on a private jet, with vast wealth often blatantly stolen from their governments, they of course are welcomed open handedly by Boris and his like.

The reasons refugees give for coming to the UK are not our welfare and health system or the "free housing" , many of which benefits are denied to refugees anyway and which are often available in more generous forms in other European countries. The reasons are a lot more complicated. Language is one, English is a more widespread common language than say Italian or Swedish. Family, religious or cultural connections are another , we are are generally tolerant and accepting culture where religious and cultural diversity is accepted. We are also a country where it is possible to live below the radar, we don't have identity cards, we have a thriving black economy (often supported by the same people who froth at the mouth about undocumented asylum seekers but are happy to pay for their car to be washed and valeted for a tenner) .

And we are not an overcrowded country, we are a country where wealth is unevenly distributed, where we are happy to ignore the poor infrastructures in many areas of the nation which deny fiscal growth and prosperity while pouring billions and billions into schemes like HS2 which will cut the length of travel between London and Birmingham by the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

@Parker231 - I wish I had a solution. Since I have already pointed out that having fewer children just creates problems with an elderly population, no I would not under any circumstances support a one-child policy, as that’s also just kicking the can down the road and leaving it to younger generations to deal with the mess (possibly eventually resorting to ruthless “euthanasia” policies). In all honesty, I think we are all acting like the cricket playing his violin all summer and heading for disaster and I don’t know how that can be stopped, because humans will be human.