The People demand that the Boats are Stopped.

[noblegiraffe]

I keep reading about the Tory government working hard to deliver the people's priorities:

"Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Government are focused on five immediate priorities. We will halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists and stop the boats."

Halve inflation (will happen anyway), grow the economy (vague), reduce debt (vague), cut NHS waiting lists (maybe by paying nurses and doctors more?), stop the boats (what?).

Maybe it's just where I live, but I'm not seeing this immediate urgent need to "stop the boats". It's certainly nowhere near my top 5 priorities for the government to be immediately tackling. If it was, I'd probably look at creating legal routes for genuine asylum seekers as a first step rather than shipping them to Rwanda.

Is it in your top 5 urgent government priorities? Are they speaking to the people and I've just completely missed it?

YABU: Stopping the boats is in my top 5 government priorities.
YANBU: I'm more concerned about something else and would bump Stop the Boats down the list.

the care crisis is way more important

Yanbu

But there ARE legal routes and just because only 1 person has ever accessed the scheme shouldn't mean anything! It's a mystery why they keep coming on dangerous boats.

This has been done to death on here OP, look at the previous threads on this.

Where do you live? Are you wealthy? If you don’t live in the SE and have some cash then I can see why you don’t have to care about it

I'm quite suprised at 40% voting that stopping the boats is in their top 5 priorities. I really need to remember that they walk among us.

I agree / care crisis, NHS and education are much further up my priority list

I'm interested if it is genuinely in people's top 5 priorities for the government to address. I know deporting people to Rwanda etc has been discussed.

People will be concerned about issues that affect them. I would assume residents of towns along the east coast would be more concerned by the boats than residents of deepest Derby

That's why I'm asking the question. If you do live in the SE and don't have cash, please feel free to elaborate why it is a top 5 priority for you.

Yes, that's why I'm asking. How does it affect them to the point where it's a top priority to address?

noble giraffe - It's in my top 5, but then I live in the south east.

I saw a clip on the news where Sunak was talking about the list of priorities. When he mentioned stopping the boats, both me and DH rolled our eyes. It is just a populist policy which appeals to the previously UKIP supporting section of new tory voters.

The teacher retention crisis and care crisis surely rank much higher than "stopping the boats".

Do you not understand how poverty stricken coastal towns are in the SE England?

Why? What is the impact?

When I think of waving my magic wand, I think of food banks and soup kitchens getting closed due to lack of need, the NHS strengthened, etc.

How does that answer the question?

This

Not sure I’d rank as top 5 but there is a significant issue to address. This isn’t even about the rights/wrongs of whether they are genuine - the route they’re taking is incredibly dangerous; it costs a huge amount to police; plus housing and processing costs - and the outcome still isn’t satisfactory for anyone. So that can’t be right can it?

I think if I lived in Kent I’d be concerned yes.

I thought the same thing when I heard that. I’d be much more interested in them dealing quickly with asylum seekers, processing their claims so they can get into work and contribute to society. I’m also more interested in them doing something to support health and social care, focussing on improving education particularly in Scotland, protecting women’s rights, ensuring people can eat and live comfortably, there’s a whole raft of things more important to me than stopping the boats.

For someone who champions education rights you really are coming across as uneducated as to the needs of communities experiencing extreme deprivation

You really can't imagine why some people in areas where lots of unaccompanied young men have been stuffed into hotels might see it as a concern? People in (usually deprived) areas where there's been an uptick in violence and crime stemming from the tussle in the drugs trade fuelled largely by an influx of young men from Albania might be a bit wary? Its very easy to assume that anyone apposed is bigot or whatever else, but I'm not sure that's the case. If you can't see that then perhaps open your mind.

There's also a difference between people being about people who can afford to illegally arriving on boats (and the traffickers who profit handsomely from this and put the actual vulnerable people who are coming over at risk) and people who are against any sort of immigration.

If you take illegal drugs, you are helping enable the demand for those who use small boats. Albanians are apparently a significant proportion of those migrating, who allegedly control the drugs trade.

Against people*

Of course not, this is Mn, very left wing and won’t acknowledge even the possibility that an immigrant isn’t a ‘genuine’ and well intentioned refugee. Mention the fact they’re basically all young men who have left behind wives and kids and they go mad!