People in small boats

[EndlessRain1]

With everything that is going on in the UK at the moment, can it really be true that one of the top 5 priorities in the country is to stop "people in small boats"?

I mean, I know a lot of people are against immigration in this form, but in the grand scheme of the shit show this country has been in the last couple of years that is in the top 5 priorities/ actions?

AIBU to think that's insane?

Agree , I'll add hospitality, staff are being sacked with immediate effect to house people, border force, police, air ambulance, the LB society ,, the fire brigade
It's shocking and I never thought I would say those things

Exactly that, it would be my number 1 priority not in top five only

Yabu. Money should be saved wherever possible as there is nothing spare, stopping illegal immigration and people smuggling and associated costs should be a priority. I dont want taxes I pay to be used to house illegal immigrants, I want them spent on the NHS and education for my kids.

I dont want taxes I pay to be used to house illegal immigrants, I want them spent on the NHS and education for my kids.

The vast majority of asylum seekers who are housed have their asylum claims accepted, so taxes are not being used to house "illegal" immigrants.

I imagine the 2,000 kilometres from Albania to Calais, or the 5,000k from Iran to Calais, across much of Europe, is what people are paying the smugglers for. Not so much the boat bit,

Agree with the dog whistle politics comments.

The Tories are trying to avoid Farage stealing their thick, racist, xenophobic voters, so they need to be Tough On Small Boats.

They want any floating swinging-rocks-for-hearts nasty fuckers to carry on voting Tory, so that the Tories can carry on hollowing out the country and infecting the remains with their politics of hate and contempt.

If they're not visibly hateful enough, the floating nasty fuckers will vote for Farage in whatever guise he appears next, is their concern.

I judge the FUCK out of Tory voters these days.

But there are loads of things that are criminal and cause a loss of life. Things that cause far greater loss of life than the migrant deaths (which, although tragic, are relatively limited in numbers). Cracking down on drugs is one example I can think of.

Same re cost, loads of things costs far more and addressing them could create far more savings than looking at this particular issue.

Given these factors I tend to agree that this is to appease anti-immigration voters that otherwise will support more right wing parties. I can see no other reason that this would otherwise be considered among the top 5 things that needs to be addressed in a country that is considered one of the top economies of the world, yet over 4 MILLION children live in poverty.

Cracking down on drugs is one example I can think of.

Given what Albanian gangs are involved with you should include stopping small boats from Albania in this

Oh yes, let's focus on a tiny fraction of the drugs issue, that makes sense. It will really put those Albanians off their drugs trade if they can't bring over asylum seekers!

Of we could, you know, focus on the actual big/ costly/ criminal/ death causing issue and stop pandering to Nigel's mates.

Have a read up on why men are being brought over. It’s to work on drug farms here.

But you are confusing cause and effect. Removing a - relatively - small number of immigrants is not going to stop the drug trade.

Also human trafficking happens in lots of ways. Not just "peiople on small boats". Why then not say you want to crack down on human trafficking? Or are the ones being smuggled from Europe in cars fair game, we all just feel especially concerned about the brown ones on boats?

Nope. If you care about drugs then you’d want to see trafficking for drugs related activity stopped as part of it, not just say oh not that, let’s have the Albanian drug gangs.

Are you ok with it to continue? How big do you want it to get?

Come off it. If you are concerned about Albanian drug gangs say that. Don't target a tiny fraction of their criminal activity to try justify what is inherently just pandering to fear politics and racism.

Er I am saying that

The Albanian boats issue is related to drug gangs. So if you don’t want to see that grow then you need to resolve it.

But it's a TINY element of it. And even smaller one if you take into account the non-albanian part of the issue. I am not questioning that the migrant crossings need to be resovled. I am questioning making it a top 5 priority for a country. It's bizzare to say you want drugs dealt with and then focusing a tiny fraction of the issue.

@1001Daffodils
Migration needs to be simpler really - no access to government benefits including NHS unless gainfully employed and paying taxes for a qualifying period. If you have no intention to work then you don't get to stay on the taxpayers ££. Genuine asylum seekers and economic migrants are pleased to be offered the opportunity to start a fresh life and contribute to society.

Immigration is already that simple. Have a Google of “no recourse to public funds” and also the requirement for a minimum income to obtain a U.K. visa.

Not really you brought up drugs being important to you so with a large part of the problem on the boats it makes sense to see it end.

Fine you want it to end but not included in priorities. Does that mean it can wait until other things have happened or you prefer not to hear about it much?

We’re all different, it’s your choice. I don’t really want it to wait, and it seems majority in polls agree - this is why it’s up there on list

Mumsnet both users and the moderation team loves immigration and doesn't ever see any negatives doesn't allow a free and fair discussion as you can see with deleted posts all from a specific side. Immigration control and stopping their arrival is still very popular but I won't explain why because Mumsnet hq is too woke to even allow the comments to be posted. This isn't a platform to have free and honest discussions are about immigration on.

RosesintheHospital - The latest figures I could find were from 2019. That year just over 1800 people came over in small boats. The rest entered by other means, ie smuggled in the backs of lorries etc. The Government admitted that 6,000 of those coming in were failed asylum seekers from other European states so they had no right to be here. The Government also stated that 70% of asylum seekers were actually economic migrants.

@MarshaBradyo

I don't think it doesn't need resolving. I just think that in a country that is currently going to absolute shit left right and centre it's very odd that this is seen as a top 5 priority.

If you are genuinely worried abotu the criminal aspect and the dangers the country can do something about it really quick by allowing lawful passage or opening asylum facilities on the other side of the channel. I have a feeling that won't appease the voters who have caused this to be in the top 5 things that are most important in this country. I have a feeling this probably also won't appease you.

No point in assuming what I’d think.

I’d have to hear details - numbers, where from and process to tell you anyway.

It seems like a promise to satisfy the Brexit voters and keep them voting Tory, but it is pretty desperate.

It is definitely an issue and an expensive one, but (adopting the Tory retort to our biggest issues) it is a problem a lot of other nations have, but they act like it is unique to the UK.

I think the economy tanking and the poor functioning of the UK is a bigger issue. We will not have any money to spend on sorting the other issues out if we don't deal with that. We need to sort out the financial wastage that the UK has (COVID fraud, cronyism where contracts are given to contractors who have no intention of doing a good job, private companies putting profit before people) and we might have more money and less people hacked off they are paying lots of money for shit services. We need to build more houses, so younger generations don't feel disillusioned and eventually leave the UK for a better life. At this rate emigration will also be a problem.

Flannan - And the shouting down from the Tony Blair years is still very much with us.

Do fuck off dear.

Interesting that you don't disagree though 🤔Maybe the deaths and the drug smuggling albanias aren't your only concern here. What a surprise!

It's a significant issue for Tories because it will cost them many seats in the election now that the Reform party has said it will stand candidates in all constituencies. Reform won't win any seats but they will split the Tory vote, resulting in more Labour wins than otherwise.