(i know i probably am) To be disapointed that whilst at my local shopping parade all around me were foreign.

[MAMAZON]

I don't want to start a UCM type thread but it just struck me how prety much everyone i saw at the shops earlier was foreign.

no one seemed to be speaking English at all.

clueless,
sometimes I get the impression that the whole blinking BNP has decamped en masse abroad! I have met so many right wing nutters - it is not just urban myth that they call themselves expats and then moan that they had to leave the UK because there were so many foreigners!!

LOL! I threw myself

I agree - there is an awful lot of scaremongering. I cannot bring myself to even glance at the Daily Mail any more - or The Express.

I have absolutely no problems at all with any folks working in this country and paying tax and NI as appropriate. They are bolstering the economy. I've never understood this "they are stealing our jobs" mentality. There are many brilliant doctors, researchers and engineers in this country who have migrated here from elsewhere and the country is all the better for them. There are plenty of folk who are willing to do whatever work comes their way too - irrespective of what it is.

Many many immigrants are putting themselves through education - particularly evening courses/college, and working long hours to survive. It's all very commendable, particularly when a great deal of them are trying to learn English at the same time.

I still feel intimidated when surrounded by people who are speaking a language I dont understand. Simply because it excludes me. But as I said, this was done deliberately (up until a few years ago when I expressed how rude it was) by family who wanted to say things without us knowing what was being said.

Can't be arsed to read whole thread but... if there are lots of people not speaking English in the shopping area, how many of them are on holiday? Or do you live somewhere vile that no one in their right mind would book a holiday in?(And think of the happy shopkeepers who want their shops full of buyers after a rubbish year).

I know I said I was going to bed but quite clearly I am beautiful enough already, I worry about the thin end of the wedge, the views slip in as reasonable intelligent debate and are adopted by facists for their own views.

Mamazon, I also live in the same town as you. It's pretty well known for being culturally diverse I thought, well, in some areas. DEpends what part you live in really.

Clueless - totally true. the BNP are thriving on the relativly sane people who are being agitated by the daily mail into thinking we as a country are fit to burst with benefit claiming, housing register jumping asylum seekers adnd immigrants.

but i can assure you i am not so easily swayed.

Okay, that's fair enough. I agree that some views need to be picked up on before they are 'allowed' to expand.

How does the thin end of the wedge apply in this case though, in your view?

FIngerwoman - woohoo a local. hello [waves]

i think there is a large asian population in the area but where i am they seem to be 2nd/3rd generation and very westernised.

It was more the Eastern european population that surprised me.

By targeting people aggrieved by being surrounded by foreigners, but I am not saying that Mamazon should not be allowed to make comment, I am saing I should be allowed to respond without being labelled a pc nutter, I suppose I am saying my opinions are heartfelt and not just the trendy thing to say.

and hedgehog too. we ought to meet up somewhen

yes, though i would be utterly mortified if you knew me.

though my pics are on profile so i guess you would already know if you knew me.

according to the Daily Mail there is a lot of child benefit being paid to Polish kids living in Poland due to the fact that their fathers have worked here for a few months

yah but according to the daily mail elvis works at my local chippy and Maggy thatcer is somehow related to tom cruise

THat's the thing with the 'immigrants stealing our jobs' mindset: the problem is not that someone moves to one country from another and takes on whatever work he/she can get (and if their are work permit issues, a brain surgeon fleeing a war zone may well end up cleaning toilets for less than the minimum wage) - the problem is the numbers of quite large established companies who turn a blind eye to contractors employing illegal migrants simply because they don't want to have to pay a living wage to their staff. The desperate migrants will take on any job that they can a) get and b) won;t look at their papers too closely, the employer is gratified to be able to get a pool of easily intimidated staff (because the employer can threaten to either fire them or inform the home office of their existance if they try to assert themselves) and pay them about £2 an hour.

Sounds like a great place to live to me. Far too many Brits in this country for my liking.

Mamazon - havent read whole thread but i understand you. It's the same feeling i get when i walk down the street on the costa del sol and hear only English voices. It's not that they themselves are bad, I think the world is better for mixing and movement of people (god knows i'm an immigrant myself, Scot in Spain, with Italian blood and half-South American DDs) it's just a little sad that everywhere you go places have lost the unique flavour that a homogenous population and set of traditions/culture gives them.
Thread title was a little ill-worded perhaps {been there, done that }

Hijack - mamazon and fingerwoman would love to meet with some locals as have been in the area for 2 years and only know DH's friends (he grew up locally) Can we do this?

I do sometimes think that some on MN storm in at the first opportunity to flame those who make even the slightest criticism of immigration/immigrants/foreigners. It is like anything isnt it? in that there are both positive and negative elements but it seems that we are only allowed to mention the "good stuff" on MN for fear of being branded "racist". I dont think most people are trying to be ridiculously PC either it is just that this subject can only go one way. We restrict ourselves from discussing it freely and fairly. There are problems with immigration as there are problems with all aspects of our society but this is not up for discussion, which I feel is very unrealistic and doesnt serve anyone well.

I dont have a problem with immigrants or foreigners in any way, shape or form. The only thing I have problem with is the stretching of our countrys resources due to their presence, though I know that many bring skills that are lacking and contribute greatly but many dont and yes I do sometimes miss elements of our own culture that are just not so obvious in a culturally diverse area such as London, where I live. However I am also fully aware of the positives of such a society. I dont think I can be called racist for saying that though though I am sure some will try. My son is substantially in the ethnic minority at his primary school and we chose the school partly for this reason. We live in an extremely ethnically diverse society and we wanted him to be aware of that and learn to thrive within it. Surely being permitted to express and discuss our views both negative and positive is the way forward to real acceptance.

I think someone (maybe it was clueless) made a very relevant point much further down; that more people/skills are leaving the UK than are coming here. And I think that can obviously lead to the cultural dilution (not the right word) that mamazon feels.

One of the things I love most about the city near here is the breadth of nationalities- first time after we moved here (from somerset after all) I couldn't get the grin off my face! I want the boys to grown up feeling that their community is as varied as possible and a human community not a community based on people exactly like them.

especially as people vary by far more than just nationality of origin, so 'inclusive' relates to far more than that, but does include that- iyswim.

Oh and there is some Cb being paid to kids in Poland- their parent pays tax here same as the rest of us, why should they not get the same entitlements? (not suggesting anyone said they chouldn't!! Just see thata rgument everywhere)

And i do agree with poelpe on some aspects of immigration- am hoping to teach in a related field (my degree is in world religions)because of the amount of racism I encountered back home. But expressing concern over the eg. lack of resources etc or the way immigration is managed is very different from being a racist.

Imagine being a spaniard living in the costa del sol...how weird must that be. They even have corners of the shop that are 'the english corner' and sell scottish oats and scones '. Tis true!

AlMummy, I really dont think this was one of the threads where everyone stormed in to give OP a good kicking, personally I think the majority of posters who disagreed, waited and questioned mamazon, as to what exactly she meant, and responded, and I welcome the opportunity to talk about immigration because it is a taboo subject.