To think that something has to be done about the immigration crisis?

[JudesBiggestFan]

But I don't know what? More than 900 people landed in Dover today, as I discovered when reading about the terrible petrol bomb attack on a detention centre. Detention centres overcrowded, more than 7 million pounds a day being spent on hotel rooms for illegal immigrants, horrendously slow processing of applications...people drowning in the channel and local people feeling angry and frustrated because of the strain on services. Not to mention the mental health toll on people living their lives in limbo! So what is the answer? Because I just don't know anymore but it feels like the system has completely broken down.

We deskill our own people by not providing training opportunities because it's cheaper to import trained labour from other countries then use shortages in the skilled labour market as a reason to bring more people into our crowded island
The opportunities for training are there for UK nationals - there are thousands of funded training places not taken up. The bulk of labour imported in the 90s and 00s was relatively unskilled labor (food production, warehousing, social care) that couldn't be filled locally.

We have an aging population with an increasing percentage of economically inactive pensioners. Almost half the population are over 40, over 20% are over 65. The percentage under 20 is dropping. Who's going to wipe the backsides of the baby-boom generation as they approach 80?

Well we can rest assured that, after a relatively fallow period, immigration is going to be the tabloid mainstay for the next few months. Sure beats talking about boring old austerity.

So we take in more people to look after our old folks, what happens when these new people get old, do we take in even more and so on?

As a country, we have a long, proud history of immigration. Why should that stop?

LaGioconda I didn't say it should stop but we simply can't accept every person who comes here on a small boat on the basis that we need them to look after our old people.

Why are Brexitiers moaning about what they have "won" ?

Because so many had no understanding of what they voted for. The day after the referendum there was a really nasty atmosphere - people who looked or sounded vaguely foreign ran the risk of having some fool jeering at them that they had better start packing, because there was a significant number of Brexit voters who seriously thought it meant deporting all pesky forrins. Anyone who pointed out that it wouldn't affect, for instance, commonwealth immigration got dismissed as promoting Project Fear. So they've spent the last six years getting increasingly disappointed and, because they won't accept responsibility for their own misconceptions, they have to blame a mixture of retainers and those immigrants.

It's not about the turkeys voting for Christmas because they are now stealthily putting down the turkeys before Christmas has even come round - very telling 😶

I used to work illegal immigrants the majority were highly educated: pharmacist doctors teachers solicitors etc in their own country, many were fluent in English and a most had been here for years working under the radar in family businesses.
Personally I think they should be allowed to stay, assuming no criminal record, they want to work and will pay tax into our ailing economy, there is a huge labour crisis in so many sectors they would happily fill it. They nearly all showed tremendous drive and initiative most had travelled 1000's of miles to be here. Many were what we call "economic migrants" but as one said to me what is wrong with wanting to improve the lot of my family? Wouldn't you do the same in my situation?"
They need to treated with compassion and respect, if they want to work let them, give them a chance to prove how important they could be to economy/country.

I don't think the Albanian immigrants are particularly well educated tbf. However, the construction workers did a fine job at my home.

It depends what the Albanian men are being promised. If it’s gang type drug jobs that are drawing them then it’s unlikely they’ll have the skills people are suggesting, even to be right for care homes.

Hard to say without more information.

Outside that though I agree refugees can have a variety of skills, as any society.

Who's going to wipe the backsides of the baby-boom generation as they approach 80?

Who indeed? Most caring jobs are done by females. Most new arrivals are young men, so it probably it won't be them.

There is a desperate shortage of construction workers across the whole of the UK. Ditto people to work in the hospitality sector. If Albanian men need and are happy to be trained to do this work let them. Men can be nurses/carers some of the best carers/nurses I know are men.
Having worked with Albanian families they generally treat their elderly with great respect which from reading some of the comments over the last couple of years on here re the elderly is more than we can say.

We need to make Britain so shit no-one would ever want to come here. Clearly it’s still too nice.

There is a way to do that. You apply for a work visa. It should be easily granted for care work, or indeed any industry in need of workers.

Yes this is a better way. They had a staff member on early who described weapons being confiscated, fights and they were fearful. So whilst Albanian families might look after their elderly (and I’m sure there’s loads of positives about Albanian people) it might be a bit unwise to not check who we would be training. Criminals exist in all societies so use better pathways for the needed workers.

To be fair, the Tories are giving it a really good go, they are pumping human shit into rivers and the sea, closing every community facility they can, destroying town centres, reintroducing toxic pesticides and might still yet decide to frack.

For those saying we are full up, too many people, can't get med appointments, no housing and the costs involved, well why then have we invited in visa free, zero checks up to 5m HK Chinese?

Yet we get all upset about 40k migrants, 75% of who will be given asylum.

Or the many thousands of Roma (not to be confused with Romanians although some are) who started arriving around 2004 when a certain TB opened our borders to more of Eastern Europe than practically any other EU country. The estimates of a few thousand new workers was sadly underestimated, and some neighbourhoods that were already poor, are now even poorer. Hardly surprising that many whose lives were affected by the influx got fed up with it.

theconversation.com/the-huge-political-cost-of-blairs-decision-to-allow-eastern-european-migrants-unfettered-access-to-britain-66077

Unfortunately these things won't change any time soon.

They won't change full stop at this rate

They could have been changed by now if politicians paid attention 30 years ago

This is a good idea on the surface, but visas are more expensive than people think. The initial work visa costs upward of £2000, you also have to pay an NHS surcharge of £3000ish, can’t remember the exact cost, every 5 years. Depending on the type of visa/your country of origin, there’s also a lower limit on how much you can earn. It was £28,000 pa for a single person and £35,000 for a person with one dependent (wife or child), higher with more iirc. So if you’re a man who wants to work in construction, and you want to bring your wife and two kids, you’d have to prove earnings of around £40,000. Is that common with a lot of building jobs?

(Apologies @MarshaBradyo that look like I’m replying to you, but I was just trying to reply to the whole chain re visas, not singling you out!)

Apologies to reply to you again, this time it’s intentional 😂

I don’t think we can say anything is “drawing” people when there’s plenty of evidence that people are being trafficked. It wouldn’t be right for eg to say that Albanian teenage girls are being “drawn” to the UK to work in enforced prostitution.

I wonder if you had a chance to read my previous post explaining the Albanian trafficking situation that you’d previously asked about? That might have the information you need. Happy to repost if it got lost in the melee of the thread.

Some did believe that, it’s no joke. The day after the vote, my children were told in school they were going to be deported along with their father.